New Balance Series
by queenopy
Summary: After an eventful ordeal, Mini Jack is given his team back… sort of. This series is especially dedicated to SG1 as we used to know them. Story 2: Time goes on but not surprisingly a member of the team has problem handling things.
1. Year One Story One: Genesis

**Title**: Genesis  
**Series**: New Balance: Year One, Story One (1?)  
**Author**: queen  
**Category**: Gen, Casual, Humor, Team Fic  
**Pairings&Co**: Team (friendship)  
**Spoilers**: Fragile Balance (703), everything till season 7 (included)  
**Season / Sequel**: Season 7, Fragile Balance.  
**Rating**: PG  
**Content Warnings**: Language?  
**Summary**: After an eventful ordeal, Mini-Jack is given his team back… sort of. See how they settle…  
**Disclaimer**: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money whatsoever has exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The situations and original story are the property of the author. Not to be archived without permission of the author.

o-o-o

**NEW BALANCE:**

**GENESIS**

_"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light. God saw that the light was good and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light 'day,' and the darkness he called 'night.' And there was evening, and there was morning--the first day."_

_The Bible_, Genesis 1:1-5

x–x–x

"So guys, what're you gonna do with us?" Jack asked.

It definitely was the big question everyone was wondering at that point.

(For the ones who missed the whole story, you might need a little reminder if you want to understand the peculiar situation that everyone is uncomfortable with.)

Once upon a time, there was a colonel in the US Air Force who woke up in his bed looking like... a brat. Hence he went to his secret base to report to his more than less austere Commanding Officer and in the same time to complain a LOT about it to his not so sympathetic teammates.  
Together they discovered that he in fact had been abducted by little grey alien aboard a spaceship. Then they planned a trap to capture the creature responsible for the fountain-of-youth effect and also for the little not so wanted bonus that his current young body was dying.  
The truth once entirely revealed pointed that the colonel had been cloned, badly cloned by a renegade alien for genetic, but entirely vain, experimentation. Then good alien appeared and saved the boy from dying... but at which price?  
Brat-colonel discovered it while he tried to begin a new life again... because old demons hunted him down.

_He couldn't live with a lie so, confused not to said desperate he took extreme measure to end it all.  
Eventually and hopefully, his old or maybe just older teammates found a solution for his impossible condition, since of course: No one is left behind!_

_So they got to see good alien again and asked for a favour which he agreed. In the end, they gave his team back to the brat by cloning themselves. There are now two SG-1s: the original version and the young version._

_And that was the happy if only momentary ending of that endearing story. _

(But what's going to happen now? What would they do with them?)

It was the younger Jack who'd, just then, voiced the inevitable question.

Standing in the gateroom, the young SG-1 freshly arrived by the Stargate from the Asgard Galaxy wasn't exactly comfortable with the situation either.

The teens, waiting for some directions, glanced at their older counterparts: Teal'c, Doctor Jackson and Major Carter next to them, and Colonel O'Neill a little farther. However, knowing that for now, they were under the responsibility of the SGC and thus the SGC CO, they looked all together as one at Major General Hammond who didn't seem to have gotten over his shock. And he wasn't the only one. Lieutenant Colonel Cartwright, current Military Psychiatrist sent by the Pentagon to take care of the "Clone" Case, which had become now the "Clones" Case, was also standing: baffled, confused, thrilled, his mouth still opened.

For a long moment, they stayed in a silence only disturbed by the regular noises of the many machines around.

"I'm hungry!" said Young Jack, suddenly impatient, and with gestures he suggested, "What about 'us' eating while you, old guys, discuss and take decisions over it?"  
"Don't you want to have your say in that matter, Jack!" interfered Young Daniel genuinely.  
"Indeed, I, for myself, will appreciate to debate on what would be now our fate," added Young Teal'c.  
Young Daniel then looked at Young Sam. Either it was by habit or to reassure the unity of their newly reformed group, his expression only showed a sincere concern.  
The young girl took a moment, thoughtful, seriously evaluating the situation at stake, computing it until she would come with a valid course of action to follow. It was what she always did and her team expected it of her.  
Anyway, Jack interjected, giving his opinion (as he always does but that doesn't surprise you, does it?), and thus diverting the attention off of her.  
"As far as I'm concerned, I don't give it a damn. But please Carter, share with us your enlightened opinion!" he commented with false condescending tone.  
Both Sam's sighed in reaction at the same moment. Surprised but a smile on their lips they looked at each other curiously sympathizing.  
"As far as I can tell, if I might use the same terms as you," Young Sam finally began and carried on, "Nothing will be decided now, here, with or by them." She finally concluded, "I think our fate will be debated somewhere out there by people who don't really want to know about my or your say on the matter."

"Yeah, yeah, you should have said something more straight to the point like 'Let's go eat!'!" retorted Young Jack with mock exasperation.  
"Come on guys!" The boy claimed then.

The band of kids didn't hesitate and walked away following their leader, silently recognizing their own helplessness and not wanting to dwell on it.

When they were out of sight, Colonel O'Neill frowned.  
"She's frightening," he stated finally (totally disregarding the actions of his own counterpart, talk about self-denial), and then looking at his 2IC, he corrected "... um… You're frightening!"  
Carter slightly rolled her eyes and looked at the ceiling in a form of protest but didn't open her mouth. While on their side, Daniel just wore a big smile and Teal'c had his mouth forming the beginning of a satisfied smirk.

Everything seemed good in the best of world… (Are we too hopeful?).

x–x–x

Dossier n° 376-6820  
Session 04-XXX-001  
Subject: Jonathan O'Neill (former Colonel USAF)

Notes: The patient in the past was reluctant and resilient, part because of his own history and part because of his training.

Literal transcription:  
Colonel Cartwright.

- Jonathan, good to see you. Sit down, here...

Aack! It's Jack, not Jonathan, not Jon or least of all Jonnie… call me Jack.

- I see. I wish you would be more cooperative with me this time.

You betcha.

- How do you find your arrangements, are they at your convenience?

It's fine.

(Silence)

- Tell me.

(Silence)

- Tell me the details.

Don't you know?

- Tell me as if I didn't.

You mean like you're sort of dumb or like you didn't do your job well?

- Just tell me!

(Silence)

Where do I start?

- I seem to understand you had to move...

Yes, I lived with an older lady before, Mrs Herm, a widower. And she's still in charge of me but we're four now, she couldn't host all of us. And you know that the point of having the other three is - you know- to be together.

As I understand it, we have the status of war orphan with military parent so we're still being sort of take care of by the Air Force. However we represent a liability to the Stargate Program. And nobody trusts us or maybe they don't trust the people outside... Whatever…

So they decided to put us together in a house in a military base meaning we're guarded all the time but at least we are by ourselves. Our welfare was put in the hands of Mrs Herm who is very nice but all of us are denied to have any kind of independency...

- This part of your new life still seems to bother you...

How can it not? We might look like brats but we're not. We all had worked hard and earned for our life. And now - for crying out loud - we even have to ask for pocket money... It's damned frustrating!

- Um… You said "we" but how do you think the others handle it?

They're FINE.  
They don't seem to realize what they have done to themselves.  
But trust me, they will realize it soon.

- Do you fear that...?

(Silence)

- Um they knew the consequences of their action...

(Silence)

- The Asgard had scrupulously warned them.

(Silence)

- They knew what they did... Unlike you, they chose their fate.

(Silence)

- You should talk to them.

(Silence)

Can I go now?  
Conclusions: The patient has recovered from his previous ordeal. He showed more openness until the slip. For further sessions, use more subtlety.

x–x–x

"I can't believe it!" The voice of a young girl resounded from nowhere to be seen.  
They were rows and rows of clothes hanging or disposed on shelves all around.  
The head of a young Sam appeared suddenly, and looked at a boy carelessly sitting on a chair with his legs on an empty shelf. He seemed particularly engrossed in his Game boy.  
"I hate shopping! Why does it happen to me? At least my old self had years to complete her wardrobe... and look at me here... with a body that I don't even know... Which size do you think I..." She glanced at Jack who looked still really focused on his game.  
"Sir, why did you come with me? I seem to recall there's an amusement arcade in this mall... And the guys aren't far..." She waited glaring at the boy then sighed before diving in another row.  
Jack moved his eyes from the screen once she disappeared. He let himself grin brightly and then he laughed.  
"Come on Carter! You're just funny to watch. It's such a shame I can't see both, you and Daniel at the same time," he finally admitted.  
Sam appeared again but now to scowl hardly at Jack.  
"I was sure of it. You enjoy seeing me miserable!" She retorted spiteful.  
Then suddenly something flew at Jack's head. It took him by surprise and the object landed on his face with full speed if not full force. When he looked at it at the reasonable distance of his arm, he realized it was a hat more like a bonnet, purple with pink flowers sewed as decoration. He suddenly wondered if she had been interested by it at first or if she took what was at reach before throwing it at him, but already her voice disturbed his track of mind.  
"I hate you! Get away!" Sam shouted, her protest was muffled from the distance and the thick clothes.  
He grinned again not really sure why he had that stupid smile plastered on his face. But the fact was that he didn't really want to walk away, however he knew that he should.  
"Okay, okay, Carter! I'm going!" he said raising his hands, sign of surrender, but then he added slyly, "And don't forget, have fun!"  
He then ran away fearing that something else more heavy and harmful would be thrown at him but nonetheless laughing soundly.

Going through open space and stairs, Jack finally arrived in the male teenage area. It was a really gigantesque shop but he immediately spotted Teal'c and not far away Daniel.  
"Hey guys! How is it going?" He said out loud waving his hand to make his presence known while he came near.  
The two boys noticed him, each one with different expressions on their face.  
"There are such numerous clothes in this place that it makes your choosing time more difficult and very… very long." Teal'c answered unblinking.  
"I'm exhausted and it has only been half an hour," Daniel said as he sat down. He almost wore that face he made when people were bothering him and taking him away from a special and exciting translation he was working on, almost because unlike his usual demeanour, Jack could hear a sharp note of distress in his voice.  
"Did you try anything?" Jack asked playfully.  
"Try? We have to try them?" Daniel retorted freaking.  
"Yeah... Sure... to see if they fit..." Jack continued mentally smiling.  
"Nooooooo," Daniel whined.  
Teal'c was still looking at the shelves when he seemed to recall something.  
"How is SamanthaCarter?" He asked.  
Jack laughed.

"She's peachy... just peachy!" He claimed grinning.  
Daniel looked at him suspiciously.  
"She enjoys this as much as you do, Daniel," he explained smirking.  
Hearing that and oblivious to Jack's sadistic tendency, a little spark appeared in the eyes of young Daniel.  
"So... let's take a break!" blurted the boy, his tone balancing between enthusiasm and desperation.  
Jack considered the proposition looking at Daniel while the boy was begging with big puppy eyes. That was amusing by itself considering but how could he say no to Daniel? (Yeah how can we?)  
"Okay, let's go save Sam from her nightmare and go drink something!" He stated leniently.

The three teens went in the female area. When they arrived, many of the girls that were there started to glare at them.  
"Um... Do you think what I think they are thinking?" Daniel whispered to Jack, feeling more and more the weight of their gaze on his shoulders while they walked in deeper sections.  
Jack glanced at the girls then at Daniel.  
"Danny boy, be more explicit, I'm getting old and lost my... flexibility," Jack answered loudly.  
"Lower your voice, Jack!" Daniel protested.  
"Indeed I do think what you think they are thinking," intervened unexpectedly Teal'c.  
Daniel looked, startled, at Teal'c.  
"You do?" He sought approval.  
"We are not supposed to be here on our own, it is suspicious," Teal'c explained.  
Daniel in response thrust his elbow in Jack's ribs.  
"Ouch! It hurts!" Jack claimed.  
"You should have understood! And stop calling me Danny boy!" Daniel protested.  
"But you are a boy now, Danny!" Jack retorted childishly.  
"Yeah but so are you. Same age here!" Daniel pursued.  
"You know it's not the age that counts, it's the mind...!" Jack said perfectly undisturbed and still unashamedly smiling.  
Daniel sighed. He would never win an argument with Jack (never).  
"Where was Sam when you left her?" Daniel asked then.

"Somewhere around here but she could have moved!"  
"Carter!" called Jack, out loud.  
Another elbow was viciously thrust in his ribs again.  
"Ouch! You want to kill me?" protested Jack.  
"Tsk! Be quiet! We are attracting more attention than we should!" said Daniel.  
They looked around and realized that it was actually true.

"The deed is done... We should proceed further," Teal'c commented after a moment of discomfort.  
Daniel nodded.  
"Sam, where are you?" Daniel called.  
Suddenly Jack started to laugh with no apparent reason.  
"What are you laughing about?" Daniel glared at him.  
Jack giggled.  
"I was just thinking that it would be fun if we called her through the PA. Picture it: 'Lost girl: blond, blue eyes, wearing blue/grey clothes named Samantha Carter is asked by her relatives at the reception. Samantha if you hear us, ask a grown-up to show you the way'," Jack laughed hysterically.  
"I do not believe that she would be pleased with us if we performed that course of action," commented Teal'c, raising his right eyebrow.  
"You mean that she would kill us," Daniel corrected  
"Kill you what for?" A girl's voice spoke.  
Jack seeing Sam burst into laugh again bent in half.  
"Oh Sam… ah… How did you find us?" said Daniel sheepishly.  
"You're not especially discrete, you know!" She moved her chin briefly towards the people around who were still looking at them.  
"What's got into him?" She pointed her finger at Jack.  
"Nothing!" answered Jack grinning like a fish.  
Sam looked at him with a suspicious expression, about to say something but in last resort preferred to follow the 'Don't ask. Don't tell' policy.  
"You were looking for me?" She ignored Jack.  
"Yeah... We needed a break, what about you?" said Daniel.  
"If we could skip all of this, it would be much better. But I can go for a break, sure!" claimed Sam.  
The four of them left the shop and thus the many scrutinizing eyes returned to their original interest, now that a bunch of strange kids in army fatigues wasn't distracting their attention anymore.

Later, in a coffeehouse, the four were now sat around a table with drinks in front of them.  
"I really would have gone for a beer!" Jack complained playing with his glass, still untouched.  
"You know you can't, sir!" Sam reminded him automatically.  
"I… I really would have passed on those two gorillas!" Daniel pointed at the two SFs standing outside.  
"They have been very discrete since we arrived in this shopping mall, unlike us," Teal'c commented.  
Daniel, Sam and Jack threw him a glance and sighed but disregarded his comment all the same.  
"I want to go home," Sam eventually claimed after a moment.  
"We don't have a home... yet... nor a wardrobe for that matter," Daniel pointed at their attires, Stargate too large BDUs.  
"That's why we're here!" Daniel continued.  
"I'm fine with these clothes, I don't need others," Sam whined.  
Jack once again chuckled genuinely.  
"I would have bet that shopping was the dream of every female on Earth!" He spoke his mind.  
Sam scowled at him.  
"I hope you're not insinuating anything, Sir!" She said harshly.  
"For your knowledge, shopping is supposed to be pleasurable, buying a few things there and there... Not an entire wardrobe in one day!" Sam explained.  
"Don't tell me you've enjoyed it!" Daniel asked Jack.  
"In fact, I didn't have to go through that," Jack said.  
"How come?" Sam exclaimed, surprised and whinier than ever.  
"I got to a shop and chose just a few things to know my size and have casual clothes for my first days at school. After that I just purchased them on catalogue," Jack spelled out.  
"Oh! How... unfair!" retorted Daniel.  
"What is a catalogue?" asked Teal'c.  
"It's big, thick magazine with many, many pictures of clothes referenced by numbers. You note down the numbers and you purchase them specifying size, colour. After that they are delivered at your house," Sam explained concisely.  
She fell silent after that.  
"Why can't we do that?" Daniel complained.  
"Maybe they thought it would be fun for us. You know, usually, people enjoy having large amount of money to buy everything they want," Jack proposed.  
Daniel sighed.  
"I think they want us to have all the supplies required for us to settle down quickly and efficiently in our new lodging. It is highly plausible that they are also fitting out the lodging in the perspective of our moving," Teal'c added.  
Daniel sighed again and finally swallowed a sup from his Komodo-something coffee. He suddenly made a face.  
"Is there a problem with your drink?" Teal'c asked.  
"I would have never thought that I will say this one day, but I think this drink is too coffee-like for my new taste buds!" Daniel answered with a doomed face.  
Jack should have laughed or at least smiled, but one look at his own drink reminded him of his own issue. He would really have gone for a beer.  
They stayed in silence, looking at the crowd outside of the coffeehouse for awhile.  
"You haven't said anything, Sam. Are you feeling unwell?" Daniel said then with concern.  
He was himself feeling nauseated part because of the coffee, part because of their shopping day and part because of an indescribable dark dread.  
Sam looked at him still pensive.  
"I think I came up with a plan to get over this wardrobe issue," Sam said softly but confidently.  
"Wait here, I'll go search for paper and pen."  
She got up and fled away before anyone had time to say anything.

The three boys looked at each other in silence for a short moment.  
"She will always surprise me!" Jack commented then.  
"Don't you... Um... No never mind!" said Daniel puzzled.  
They again stayed silent feeling down.  
"A moment ago, what were you about to say, DanielJackson?" Teal'c asked eventually.  
Daniel decided to get out of his torpor and tried to get hold on his passing thoughts.  
"I'm not really sure," Daniel started still thoughtful.  
"But she seems a bit more," he continued.  
"Impulsive!" He finished high-spirited.  
"Impulsive!" Jack said at the same time.  
Daniel looked at Jack.  
"She threw something at me earlier," Jack advanced.  
Daniel stared at Jack more intensely then.

"In another hand, you seem more... puerile," Daniel finally added.  
"Hey! I..." Jack started to protest.  
"I was already a lot puerile before," Jack commented childishly.  
"I am in an agreement with DanielJackson, you showed a lot of... puerility when we were looking for MajorCarter. And I do not believe that you would have behaved the same way before," confirmed Teal'c.  
"Oh! That!" uttered Jack.  
Looking at Teal'c, Jack widened his eyes.  
"By the way, T, you seem more talkative," Jack made notice.  
Teal'c took a moment.  
"Indeed!" Teal'c agreed, nodding.  
"And I, have I changed?" Daniel asked curious.  
Jack looked at him then and bent his head on his right still looking at Daniel. Then he did the same on his left.  
"Nope!" Jack answered, his head straight again.  
"Indeed not!" Teal'c approved while Daniel frowned not sure how to take it.

Sam came back slightly panting, interrupting their discussion.  
"God! I never thought it would be so difficult to find paper and pen. By the way, what a pain, people can be!" She commented in a rush.  
The three boys stared at her while she sat down. They were gauging their observation concerning her new behaviour. Oblivious to their inquisitive minds, Sam found herself thirsty and began to drink quietly from her diet soda.  
"We're waiting, Carter!" Jack said calmly.  
Daniel scowled at him for his reproachful line (mind you, not that Daniel really needs a reason to scowl at Jack or not that Jack really care when he does).  
"Yes, sorry, Sir!" Sam instantly apologized.  
"Why sorry? I'm just saying that we're waiting for your plan... explanation... scheme... whatever," Jack added.  
"Oh!" Sam blurted.  
"It was you, sir, who gave me the idea!" Sam started lively.  
Jack was puzzled but not particularly surprised. From experience, he knew that everything and anything could inspire one Samantha Carter. And she would always, like now, name her source even when they were totally oblivious and sometimes couldn't even comprehend how they got involved in it. Really puzzled but not surprised, he just had to wait for her to explain more, and that, she did, indeed.  
"We were doing things randomly each other in our side. I thought it will be funnier if we all participate together."  
"But first we need to know our clothe sizes. So I thought we could go look for a salesperson or a shop assistant. They will take our measurements," she continued.  
"When we'll get them, we will take care of one wardrobe at a time. For instance Daniel's one, I will write on the paper what he needs to possess... Ten shirts, six pants, a raincoat, a winter coat, three vests... twenty socks, shoes... etcetera. And we will split to seek items for each category. After that we'll gather, Daniel will try some and we'll choose by voting," she finished uncertain, waiting for their opinion.  
Jack didn't flinch but since he wasn't really concerned by the whole circus he didn't mind.

Teal'c bowed his head in approval.  
"It seems fine," Daniel smiled finally.  
Sam was relieved to hear that.  
"It will take more time but I think it will be less... dull," added Sam.  
"Will we get to see you try clothes, Carter?" Jack asked then in a sweet tone.  
Sam was embarrassed for a moment.  
"I'll try to spare you that burden, sir!" She retorted once she found some wit.  
"Who said it was a burden... to see you," Jack said then added slyly, "guys... try some clothes?"  
Sam chose to ignore not only his smirk but his whole presence.  
"But first, there're the underwears..." Sam started.  
Jack was drinking his soda at the time perfectly content with his teasing. Of course, he ended up chocking on his drink then spilling... spitting the liquid all other the table and also some on Teal'c who was unfortunately sat in front of him.  
"That we first need," Sam carried on then paused shortly when she saw Jack's reaction then she finished, "to take care by ourselves, each one on our own."  
Daniel burst into laugh while Sam, unblinking, watched Jack coughed frenetically.  
Once he regained his breath, Jack started to blush.  
"Sorry, Teal'c!" Jack blurted avoiding looking at Sam.  
"There is no harm done, O'Neill, it is perfectly understandable!" Teal'c answered with one corner of his mouth twitching into a smirk while he cleaned himself with a napkin.  
Sam getting over her initial shock smiled at the scene then laughed as loud as Daniel.  
Their laughs chimed alleviating considerably the mood around the table.

x–x–x

Dossier n° 376-6824  
Session 04-XXX-001  
Subject: Murray Teal'c Ronson (former Alien)

Notes: First session with this patient.

Literal transcription:  
- Good morning Teal'c, I'm Doctor Cartwright.

Greetings, Doctor. I haven't forgotten our previous meeting. I hope you are doing well.

- I am. Thank you. Will you sit down, please?

I am familiar with the techniques your kind of doctor use.

- I saw your records. It is said that Dr MacKenzie had previously examined you in this case where you had been brainwashed by the goa'uld Apophis. You had been subjected to an intensive and active therapy for a certain amount of time.

Indeed. It failed.

- It's true. I read that your master, Bra'tac, made you take the rite of Malshuraan. Really interesting process, I might say.

And I was reborn.

- Yeah. What I want to say to you is that you are not undergoing any therapy right now. We are here just to talk and see if you're adapting well to your new situation.

I am.

- Okay, Okay. You were the first prime of Apophis, weren't you?

Indeed.

- And you rebelled against your God.

That is correct. He was a false God.

- Sorry, false God, that's true. You devoted your existence to fight the Goa'uld. I'm really wondering how you handle your new situation in regards.

Could you be more precise in the formulation of your enquiry?

- It is delicate. I don't want to disturb you unnecessarily.

I can assure you that if your words would come to upset me, it would be because the seeds of this… misbalance would be sowed in my soul. It would be foolish to make you responsible for my own weakness.

- I see... To say it bluntly... how do you live with the fact that you're not fighting anymore?

(silence)

I am fighting.

(silence)

- I don't understand, can you explain it to me?

The other 'me' is fighting.

- But he is not you... you realize that, don't you?

I know that we are two different persons since the cloning. And both of us as one are fighting the Fight that counts where and when it counts... In a way Jack O'Neill expressed it to us not long ago and I will gladly use his perfect phrasing. 'We aren't Goa'uld'.

- I... understand.

Do you want to know about something else, Doctor?

- Um yes... of course. You will soon go to High School, how do you handle it?

I have to admit I am rather perplexed. I have never experienced this before.

- There wasn't a school for Jaffas on Chulac?

Indeed. But I understand that the school system on Earth works really differently. Jaffas are taught by an apprentice course.

- But you did have group lessons...

That is correct.

- What does make you perplexed then?

We were taught to fight, serve... what we need to know to do that. What your children learn at your school seems... pointless.

- (laugh). You aren't wrong.

I do not see how it is funny.

- I will try to explain to you how we work. Basically, what we try to teach to children isn't things or ways, we try to teach them to think and discover things by themselves. For this purpose they need tools like how to read, how to write, how to count. School serves for them to master these tools and experience things. When they become old enough, they then choose their career and "apprentice".

I understand. That is indeed a logic process. Your children are not born with their fate, they have the choice... they are free.

- If you have questions about school or anything else, I advice you either to ask me or ask your friends. Our time for today is finished.

It was an interesting discussion we had. Thank you Doctor.

- It was a pleasure for me too. Good bye Teal'c and see you next time.

Doctor.  
Conclusion: Apparently the patient doesn't experience the foreseen problems. He appears to be well with his new condition.

x–x–x

In the quietness of a sunny morning, a small car was moving hurriedly among the light traffic of the average city. Most of the passengers had been silent for some time, staring at the landscape each one drowned in their thoughts while light and shadow played on their skin.

"How much time yet?" blurted impatiently a brown boy who was fidgeting in the back of the car.  
"Two minutes less than when you asked two minutes ago!" answered dryly an annoyed boy sat just next to him.

The driver looked at the rear-view mirror to glance at the children but decided not to interfere.  
When they had informed her of the present situation, Mrs Herm had thought that it was a bad idea to make these children live by themselves. And thus for all sort of reasons not simply because they were too young, no they needed supervision, a safe and healthy environment - and then - and then there was a girl. However, all those reasons disappeared like ice in a sunny day once she met them. She had already experienced something akin when Jack had come to live under her roof. Of course the military recommendations had been clear enough but it was only now she knew them that she couldn't deny it anymore. They weren't like other children, and that was a euphemism. They radiated a strong aura telling... affirming they were standing on their own, together. That's why she was currently repressing all her maternal instincts like never before. 'No intervention' was now her new motto when they were concerned.

"The map indicates that the military base is placed on the outskirt of the city, we will arrive in a moment," another young boy more imposing by stature commented holding in his lap a large flyer. The black boy, who was sat on the passenger seat, spent a few more minutes looking at it and then quickly stowed it away. He then silently returned his gaze at the road before him.

The fifth passenger of the vehicle didn't bother to step in, though. Her head against the window, she was scrutinizing the buildings, trees, fields, and something beyond. The young girl found herself nostalgically carried away by the familiarity of the situation. How many times in her childhood had she experienced such a trip? And every time, she had taken it silently with a strange and eager level of self-meditation, oblivious to what was around, only projecting in the new environment that always promised to be challenging.

Her overwhelming sense of expectation, however, was something also shared by the other three young occupants of the car, each one expressing it in their own way.

"Jack, could you stop moving like that?" Daniel complained again when he was pushed away by one yank.  
"You're crushing me... I need to move my leg," Jack whined panting, result of his laboured struggle.  
Daniel grumbled in response.

The driver glanced once again at the rear-view mirror as she had done several times since the beginning of the ride.  
"We'll be there soon, kids, try to be patient!" Mrs Herm said calmly.  
"Yeah... s'not me... need to... tss," Daniel mumbled trying to stay as far away from Jack as possible, which in fact wasn't possible as they were against each other.  
Pissed off but trying to cool down, the boy threw a glance at Sam on his other side, she should have complained likewise or maybe just tried to make Jack comply better but surprisingly the young girl had stayed entirely silent.

Truth was, Daniel thought, she also should have been the one who had to sit in the middle, some sort of buffer between Jack and… well everything else.  
But Sam wasn't the kind of person who made request so none of the boys including Daniel at the time had found reason to deny her when she had unusually asked for a place next a window. But now Daniel could think of a million of reasons for her not to and of course all of them pertained to the irritating pest sitting on his left.  
Daniel grumbled again as he mentally squashed the consuming urge to ask in turn how long till they would reach their destination. To his relief, they were arriving at the military base and Mrs Herm showed papers in order to get past the security post.

The car eventually stopped in front of a relatively big but rather common house. The air was just a bit fresh, winter still seemed far ahead when the sun was shining so brightly. It was quite early and the neighbourhood was deserted. All in all the weather promised to be indulgent all day long.

Jack was the first one to open his door and in an instant he was standing outside of the car, stretching vigorously his legs. He had been feeling tense all morning and the night before. He wasn't the patient kind of personality (if you ask anybody thus without exception). But the pressure of these last days and this moving was messing with his nerves. So when he found himself locked in a crowded car, it had been the last straw on the camel's back.  
He had non-surprisingly become hysterically agitated and had behaved like a pain in the "mik'ta" particularly to Daniel who had the misfortune to be sat next to him on the ride.  
The others were soon to follow; they got down calmly and prudently outside of the vehicle while Jack walked ahead towards their new house.

"The moving vans will arrived soon," Mrs Herm drew their attention, "You should visit the house and make some arrangements... between… yourselves.."

Jack stood still for a moment and he glanced at his teammates who were approaching in a solemn silence.

Daniel, after having straightened his clothes, was the first to move in Jack's direction, his cheeks were flushed from emotion. Sam looked dreamy; her hands were deep in her vest pockets while she moved with a confident if slow pace. Last of all, Teal'c wore his usual unblinking face and walked behind his two companions with no sign of urge.

"Hurry up!" Jack cried out impatient but yet waited for them as he took time to look at the house.

When he arrived at Jack's side, Daniel put a hand on his forehead, raised his chin and took a look at the facade while protecting his eyes from the sun. Sam just raised her eyes; her body was bent almost imperceptibly back. She wasn't blinded by the light as she was standing at the other side of Jack, in the shadow. Just behind and towering his companions, Teal'c just squinted and in turn, took a panoramic view of their new two stories house.

In a strange communion, they gazed at what would be their home for now on.

A moment later, Jack moved towards the house. He opened the entrance door which was unlocked (which surprisingly doesn't surprise anybody, what about you?) and was immediately followed by Daniel hanging on his tail.

The first ground was a wide empty space with for only separation a few columns and pillars. It was an almost opened area: just next to the entrance on the left, side by side with a kitchen, there were stairs that went downstairs and upstairs; in the opposite corner, at the very back, stood the only closed room.

The two boys walked in and looked around. There was no furniture, in their place stood many boxes. Soon they were joined by their two remaining comrades; now inside, the four of them still remained silent.

While the boys lingered on the ground floor, the young girl went down in the basement.

After climbing down cautiously the stairs, Sam noticed as expected that the space she currently surveyed was smaller than what should have been from the dimension of the house itself. In fact, the missing space had been fairly attributed to Daniel for storage purpose. To be precise, his share which stood behind the wall at the very back of the laboratory was to be transformed into an impenetrable vault.  
Sam looked around the place noticing with a light contentment some panels, machines and computers set in a corner. Even reduced, the portion Sam had at her disposition was amply satisfactory. Nonetheless and thus for a couple of months she would have to make do with computer work and simulation, that and supervising the construction. Things, altogether, promised to be going smoothly.

Sam left the basement to find Teal'c, alone, looking thoroughly at a spot on the left wall.  
"Hey Teal'c!" Sam greeted her friend, "What are you doing?"  
The tall boy was gazing at the area giving view to the veranda and the garden. He remained silent for a moment then answered.  
"This place would provide an efficient and practical physical work-area."  
Sam glanced at the spot in question.  
"You're perfectly right," Sam commented and added, "But I think that Colonel O'Neill would rather appoint it as the playground though."  
Sam smiled as Teal'c bowed his head in sign of approval.  
"Where are the guys?" she pursued interrogative.  
"They are upstairs."  
"I bet they raced for the best room," Sam smirked.  
She and Teal'c then moved towards the stairs.

The two boys were arguing in a seemingly endless battle of "yes" and "no". Daniel stubbornly threw his "no" to Jack who was stubbornly defending his "yes" (not a particularly unusual situation if you knew them long enough but a bit of a reversal position since usually it is Jack who is the irrecoverable denier).  
"You can't," said Daniel not budging.  
"Why can I not?" whined Jack, "First to arrive, first to choose!".  
"You should know why," Daniel snapped.  
"Yeah, it's the best room, the biggest albeit not by much, it also has the best view; and the most important, it has its own bathroom. But why can't I have it and you can?" argued the other boy in response.  
"I've never said I wanted it," retorted Daniel.  
Jack was taken aback and he frowned in reaction.  
"Of course, Sam should have it," Daniel continued with his merciless logic.  
Jack was about to protest when it suddenly hit him.  
"Oh!" Jack blurted.  
"Okay then I take the room across!" said Jack.  
"Nope, you won't," Daniel denied him again shaking his head.  
Jack glared at him.  
"What now?" he asked in a black threatening voice.  
"Already claimed!" Daniel smiled guiltlessly.  
"It's not as if there was your stamp on the door," scoffed Jack playing dirty.  
"Nope, I admit it but there's my name on it," Daniel widened his smile.  
Jack approached the door and indeed he could read "Daniel Jackson" written across the door.  
"Wha..Ha..! Damn it!"  
It was the moment Sam and Teal'c chose to appear on the top of the stairs. They had, of course, heard the entire argument while taking a far too exaggerated amount of time going upstairs.  
Jack threw at them a glance, growled but ignored them altogether.

He went further on the corridor and turned to his right.  
"That room is mine or should I carve my name on the door!" he bellowed finally with a vicious glare at his amused teammates.

x–x–x

Dossier n° 376-6823  
Session 04-XXX-001  
Subject: Daniel Jackson (former PhD in Archaeology, Linguistics, Anthropology...)

Notes: First session with this patient.

Literal transcription: Doctor Cartwright.

- Daniel, glad to see you. Sit down, please.

I'm a bit uncomfortable. We have to do this once every two weeks, is that correct?

- It is part of the dispositions taken. You have to understand that it's never happened before and…

I am not surprised to hear that. But it seems a bit overdone, we aren't unstable individuals...

- Your records...

Don't talk about these events. Mackenzie was wrong, each time. I can assure you my sanity is perfectly fine.

- After what happened with Jon…

Wrong. You treated him wrong. It was your fault if things turned wrong.

- Daniel, listen to me.

We are fine.

- Listen.

I'm listening.

- You represent a breach of security and the government just wants to play safe with you. The others understand and accept it.

(Silence)

- Besides, I am not here to watch or spy on you. I understand that the situation you're living is extraordinary and that can upset you at a point or another. I am here to support you through it.

(Silence)

Sorry. I don't like being monitored like that.

- You aren't, I promise you. However I can see you're stressed.

Um I am - that's true.

- Are you anxious over your decision to clone yourself?

No. Of course not... Okay maybe... but it's not the decision, it's the changes.

- Your young age? Your moving?

No, not the age... no, living with the others is fine... the usual.

- You're obviously hiding something.

I... I'm stressed over the school thing.

- Can you explain it to me?

I'm nervous about going to school.

- Oh.

My parents were my private tutors for my early grades. Though I went to school for a certain amount of time after their death, I am dreading it. It isn't my best memories.

- Everything will be alright. You are at another period of your life. You will see things differently.

Yeah, yeah. And I have friends too.

- You have your teammates with you.

Yes.

- The session is already over. You can see it wasn't this hard.

No, it wasn't. Thank you, Doctor.  
Conclusion: At start the patient seemed reluctant but his behaviour relaxed rapidly. He seems to be someone who confides easily.

_  
_x–x–x

They came to the school a little earlier to visit the buildings. They hadn't got the time before with everything that had been going on. So the morning of their first day, they found themselves in the school grounds.

Jack gently volunteered to be the tour guide and showed them the surroundings.

Previously, Jack had arrived near the school year's beginning so he hadn't had to start high school in the middle of kids who were already too familiar with one another. However, it had only taken a month for his psyche to utterly cry for help. And so one night, he had just cracked and drunk, he had gone to Carter's house. It was that famous night and that famous story that had brought all of them here.

Jack had always been good with kids, young kids to be precise. But during his time at school, he hadn't got closed to anybody. And part of the reason had been that he had felt himself so different, so alien, so out of it all - unable to bend, unable to blend. Nonetheless, after almost three weeks leave from school, he was feeling enthusiastic, just happy, as he was briefing his team again. Jack even found himself commenting on their professors and classes.

All in all, they spent a pleasurable time under Jack's guidance.

It had been previously decided and settled that they would all be in the same class. As for special classes and courses, they hadn't yet reached a compromise; their taste and habit were too different one from another.The tour took a longer time than anticipated. When they arrived to the classroom for their first lesson, most of the chairs were occupied. And then the bell rang and they immediately dispatched in the room; Sam went in the back and sat next to a window; Jack dragged Teal'c towards two free tables next to each other. So Daniel, the last one to react, ended up in the only empty chair on the first row feeling tricked, somehow.

The teacher, a young woman, was already there and was settling on the desk.  
"Good morning, everyone!" She greeted.  
"Good morning, Ma'am!" The class said in return.  
She was now facing the students with a smile.  
"As you can see, the class has welcomed a few new heads!" She looked warmly at Daniel whose heart began to pump more quickly (no, no… he doesn't have a crush on her just a sense of foreboding catastrophe).  
"Also one of your classmates has returned from his long absence due to illness!" she smiled at Jack and he smiled at her likewise.  
"Glad to be back, Mrs Gallant!" The boy answered.  
"Glad to see you back!" She reciprocated. She didn't know the details concerning his absence (and she will never know) but seeing the change in the child's overall expression and demeanour was enough information for her to rejoice over his return.  
"My name is Sylvia Gallant and I am your Literature Professor! Please..." She invited Daniel to stand up and join her by reaching her hand.  
Daniel shyly complied and turned to his new classmates.

He wasn't the clumsy and bad dressed boy of his childhood anymore. His clothes reflected his own taste and confidence even if the jeans had been picked by Jack, the sweater by Sam, and his socks had been chosen by Teal'c

"Hi my name is Daniel Jackson! Glad to meet you all!" Daniel nervously greeted his brand new class… in his brand new high school… in his brand new life. A lot of 'brand new' for a guy who was highly uneasy with changes (changes that doesn't imply adopting the way of life of desert indigenes).

As he had said to Doctor Cartwright, he had never gone to regular school till the death of his parents and when he had, he had lived the experience really badly and not just school. Then because he had been some kind of passionate genius in his area, he had directly jumped at young age to a special course of studies where he had spent pretty much the rest of his life. So now he was standing around kids at their most arrogant period, feeling intimidated as if he hadn't spent the last years communicating with other alien species.

He wasn't in a state of mind to fully get the irony of the situation but he was conscious of it.

By habit, he raised his finger to push up his glasses but found empty air and his forehead instead. He didn't wear glasses. His current new eyes hadn't been worn out by intense and long hours of reading books. So his sight was perfect. However Sam had told him that his eyes were likely to deteriorate into myopia again because of genetics and he should nonetheless see an ophthalmologist to prevent it. Truth was he was missing his glasses.  
"Present yourself with a few words, please," the teacher said then.  
He looked at the grownup for more direction.  
"Where do you come from?" she suggested.  
"Um," he was baffled; he tried to look for support from some of his classmates.  
First, Jack, the brown boy who was making an 'okay' sign to him, then to a big black guy, another new student who only moved his eyebrow...  
Desperately, Daniel got on his toes to try to get visual contact with another kid who happened to be a girl, the last new student. She was mimicking words with her mouth that looked strangely like "it's classified" to him in his state of panic.  
Daniel looked again at the teacher, tongue tied, bulging eyes. He glanced at the class a last time before his imminent death of whatever you die when you have nothing to say and that it embarrassed the hell of you.  
He then noticed that Jack had written "Minnesota" on his notebook and was waving it shamelessly. Teal'c next to him had copied his action but had written, "Earth" in what looked like goa'uld.  
Daniel glared furiously at both of them. They weren't helping... at all.  
A hand rose up in the back and the teacher reacted.  
"Yes!"  
Sam stood up and Daniel thought that she was definitely a salvaging angel.  
"I think Daniel doesn't know how to understand your question!" the blond angel said.  
"The truth is he travels a lot!" Sam hinted.  
"That's right!" he jolted.  
Sam sat back on her chair.  
"Lately I had been in… Egypt. My parents were archaeologist, they're... deceased now. But I used to accompany them during all their expeditions. Archaeology became as turn my own passion. I wish... I wish to apologize for my odd behaviour at times. It's been a long time since I've been in school," Daniel continued more confidently.  
The class seemed to warm up at his lines; smiles and interested face finally ended up reassuring Daniel and he was relaxed when he sat down on his chair.

Next student presentation was Sam's, mainly because she had intervened to help Daniel.  
She rose up and walked quietly to the front of the class. Most of the kids looked at her with curiosity wondering what kind of relationship the two of them shared and if she had parents who were archaeologists too. Some others just sized her up as they had done with Daniel.

She was wearing a dress. It wasn't really unusual when she was outside of work. Really. But shamefully it was the result of a bet... more like a dare to be truthful. She mentally sighed; she would have opted for something a lot more casual and neutral. Plus this dress wasn't really fashionable, too long and too loose. It wasn't the best first impression she could have made: a well-behaved and old-fashioned girl. Whatever... _Happen what may!_  
"Hello, I'm Sam Carter!" she began a bit hastily.  
"Hmm Sam because my father wanted a son!" she tried joking nervously.  
The whole class laughed. That one always scored and she eased.  
"But it's short for Samantha. My father is in the Air Force and when I was y-..." she stopped herself.  
"Younger... I mean until now, I travelled with him following his postings," she pursued.  
She looked at the students who were glaring at her expecting something more.  
"I met Daniel in Egypt if that's what you want to know," she added smiling.  
She'd met him in Abydos but it was some sort of Ancient Egypt so that wasn't a plain lie.  
"What else to say? My hobby is Astrophysics... and I wish to build a system that would allow humans to travel and explore the entire universe."  
She smiled big time when looking at her teammates knowingly.  
"That's pretty all," she ended before returning to her chair.  
Altogether, Sam made a good first impression as the boys found her pretty and the girls non-threatening.

Then it was Teal'c's turn. The black teen was tall and imposing. His impassive face always disconcerted the people who met him. Following Jack's tutelage, he was wearing really loose and flashy sportswear, his friend explaining him that it would be more suitable... while himself hadn't understood the use of such clothes. Large clothes could be easily grasped and lacked of what SamanthaCarter had called aerodynamic. And shiny colour clothes were really easily spotted. Jack had grinned looking at his attire and Teal'c had silently complied.

"Greetings! It is a special honour for me to be at your side. The name that was giving to me when I was born is Teal'c..." Teal'c started calmly.  
The tall boy glanced at the class and saw Jack doing circle signs with his hand, he frowned slightly but pursued.  
"... Murray Teal'c. My last name is Ronson. My home... town is named Chulac, it is very far from here," he paused then continued, "I have also met DanielJackson and SamanthaCarter... in… Egypt?"  
He searched for his friends' approval and found it.  
"In my culture, men are raised to serve and fight. But it is freedom I cherish and protect above all. Please, treat me well!" Teal'c ended and returned to his chair quietly oblivious to the stunning eyes of his new classmates, after all his teammates had just smiled at him.

After the silence that followed, the teacher spoke.  
"I hope everyone will welcome warmly these three new students. Now we have to begin the lesson. Open your book at page 67."

x–x–x

Dossier n° 376-6822  
Session 04-XXX-001  
Subject: Samantha Carter (former Major USAF, PhD in Astrophysics, Engineering, Informatics...)

Notes: First session with this patient.

Literal transcription: Colonel.

- Samantha, welcome.

I know you have to give up the rank but just call me Sam, please.

- Okay, Sam. How are you doing?

(Laugh) Peachy.

(Silence)

- I have to admit I don't really know what to ask you, Sam.

(Silence)

Don't worry about that. I'm… open. It sometimes disturbs people whose job is digging out secrets. They don't know what to ask first.

- It's a good picture of the situation (small laugh).

Anyway I am fine. It had been a bit of a chaos up till now but it seems everything has settled down. The house is big for the four of us, and I inherited of the basement for my lab by the way. Otherwise, there were few arguments about which room's whose. Nothing new, truth is they haven't changed, I mean Daniel and the... Colonel. Of course Teal'c is true to himself, calm incarnated.

- I can see you haven't changed certain habit yet.

Yeah. (Chuckle). I have difficulty with that one. I heard that it requires about five weeks to really get rid of an old habit. But I can't even imagine it could be otherwise.

- You see him as your commanding officer.

Yes... and no. I mean it's not him. I'm still seeing myself as an officer.

You know, I don't mind not being called Major, because there was already a lot of persons who didn't called me that way. But this habit of ranks and sirs and following orders... duty, regulations. It's part of me, it's me.

- I understand.

But I can call him Jack at times.

- You did and you can.

I guess it's just a habit that I can change.

- Oh! I have an unexpected appointment, I have to end this session a bit sooner. Of course if you have further questions...

I didn't expect it to be so short even considering your quick departure.

- You aren't here to pass a psychological examination, you know.

That's what I read, but I didn't think it would be the case.

- I won't lie to you. It is true that I have taken a great interest in your case and I intend to study it. The dynamic of your team, your reaction to this situation, it is fascinating.

We are not lab rats. The others won't take it well if they are monitored.

- I promise you that it is not the case. Your privacy is totally respected. These sessions will be the only measures taken in that perspective.

We will see.

Sir.

- See you next time, Sam.  
Conclusions: It was with surprise particularly delicate. This session enlightened a whole new point of view of the group dynamics. Apprehending these individuals will reveal to be more difficult than ever.

_  
_x–x–x

The bell rang announcing the end of the morning classes.

During the breaks between their different lessons, teens like bees came to question the new students.

Jack kept himself away from these interrogation sessions. He however noticed with no surprise that Daniel was the most popular one, mostly because girls at this age were like vulture around a piece of meat and they saw him as a lamb. Their curiosity being satisfied and surely the realization that Daniel wasn't the alpha male type more like the geek type, most of them went away. On their part, Sam handled the excess attention with scary professionalism (it is inherent to her, just like breathing) and Teal'c even in his young disposition could make you think twice before opening your mouth (that just with a look).  
But as a matter of fact, all of them played the safe card of distance and reserve; not letting people come too closed.

Jack was up and ready to run out like usual but he noticed that his friends weren't as fast nor as hurried as he.

Teal'c was still perplexed about all the schooling process and was hesitant when packing his belongings. He was lost in his thoughts planning to later ask a bunch of new questions to his teammates.

So Jack chose to go see what Sam was doing.  
Now that he was near, he took a look above her shoulder. She was underlining titles on her notes with a red pen.

"What are you doing Carter?" Jack asked.  
"Taking notes, what does it look like?" Sam answered innocently.  
Once finished and satisfied she closed the notebook.  
"Yeah that too I don't understand... but the point is it's not a report... you don't need to do the pretty things...," he retorted to her.  
"The fact that you don't use correct templates on YOUR reports, sir, doesn't mean they are not useful!" Sam stated back defensively.  
A few heads turned to their way. The two of them froze.  
"Why don't you go and see what Daniel is doing... while I pack up... We will discuss this later, okay?" She pursued lower and began to do as she said.  
He frowned but not knowing what he could add, he complied.

Daniel wasn't ready yet but it was because a few girls had been around him, possibly harassing him.  
When Jack approached him, he made big gestures with his arms.  
"Get away, girls! Let him breathe, will you?"  
They went away giggling and leaving the four of them, at last, alone in the empty classroom.  
Now that he was closer, he could see that like Sam, Daniel had taken detailed notes, even more detailed than Sam but really messy or was it just his awful writing?  
"So what does it feel like being back to school?" Jack asked.  
Daniel wasn't at rest packing his things. He started to stutter something then stop, searching to better express his current feelings.  
"You know, there's this myth that tells the story of a shepherd, named Paris," he said when his mind suddenly gripped on something satisfying, "One day two goddesses came to him. They told him he was the son of a king, and made him discover all of the luxuries that constituted the life of a royal prince," Daniel paused then rushed in a typically Daniel style, "It was a totally different world than the one he knew. Then they asked him who the most beautiful woman on Earth was. He, exhilarated by opulence and tempted by the goddesses chose Helen as mate," he sort of concluded then asked Jack, "And you know how it ended up?"  
Jack once more found himself bewildered by Daniel's rhetoric not that he had paid an excessive attention to his friend's speech; mostly it went entirely above his head. No it was just…  
"The Trojan War!" answered Sam in their back.  
"Hmm... Hey what was my question again?" Jack ignored her answer and insisted on what he thought was important.  
"I assume that what Doctor Jackson meant is..." Teal'c started.  
"I know, I know. To sum up, he feels uncomfortable with all the attention, the entire girls-and-school package!"

"Never mind!" Jack blurted before adding, "Besides there's something we need to discuss!"  
"What are you concerned about, O'Neill?" asked Teal'c.  
"Isn't it obvious?" Jack looked at Teal'c who didn't move one muscle.  
"Carter, explain it to him, will you?" Jack said.  
"What the colonel is concerned about is the way we address to each other," explained Sam.  
"Oh!" Daniel made.  
"Oh? That's all you have to say?" Jack reacted rudely.  
"Hey, I'm not the one who has this problem here, I call you by your first name, all of you!" said Daniel.  
"He is right, sir!" Sam added.  
Jack scowled at her.  
"With all respect, we really can't do anything about that. The more we'll try, the more it will sound weird if we slip and we will slip," Sam said after a bit of thinking.  
"It can pass as nicknames for now and with time, we'll be able to change our habits," Daniel commented.  
"Yes, right now, I'm not really confident in calling you, neither O'Neill...," Sam frowned.  
"Nor Jack!" she made a face.  
Jack was about to protest.  
"Hey, should I recall you, you're the one who 'carters' me around!" Sam cut him off.  
"I wouldn't mind calling you Sam," Jack protested nonetheless.  
"I'm not sure you know what you're talking about, Jack!" Sam stressed on his first name.  
He looked at her intensely.  
"Okay, Okay, you're right...," he finally surrendered.  
"Jack here, will as we all know, always 'carters' me around. And me using the military etiquette can be explained as a private joke considering my father is a General," explained Sam.  
After a pause Sam added.  
"Teal'c is Teal'c. So it isn't a new problem."  
"As for 'Doctor Jackson', it already sounds like a real nickname," said Sam.  
She looked at each boy but Daniel tensed.

Daniel was troubled with one thought that had been haunting him since their moving.  
"Daniel?" Sam probed.  
"I was thinking that apart from being all together, one of the opportunities in the current situation is to allow us to do things differently, to begin anew...," Daniel started.  
He definitely got everyone's attention with his words.  
"But how can we do that if we don't change?" Daniel retorted with anguish his voice.  
"You know that it applies to you too!" commented Jack accusingly.  
The boy looked at him quizzically.  
"Look at your books at home or your..." Jack pursued before being cut.  
"... My room, I know. That's when I first thought of it! And I do agree that we are all fruits in the same basket!" Daniel interjected.  
They all looked at each other thoughtfully.  
"Indeed..." Teal'c started before stopping.  
The black teenager realized that the argument in question pertained to other matters than just how they address to each other. To speak the truth, Teal'c hadn't felt the necessity to adjust his formal addressing; this particular habit was so mingled in the kernel of his psyche, linked to core ideas such as respect, honor, duty that he never even thought to wonder about its real purpose or current utility. And he sure didn't know if he wanted to begin to question it now… though he completely understood and even agreed in his way with Daniel's call.

And that was the reason they were unable to say their mind. While they did understood and agree in theory, they couldn't help themselves rejecting it, sensing they couldn't adhere and make 'tabula rasa' not even in part as they felt they didn't want to relinquish even an inch of who they were.  
Eventually, Jack reacted (Jack always the bravest or just the bull-headed one).  
"Nah! Am way too 'old' ta change," he claimed.  
Daniel scowled at him with a fierce gaze but soon Sam stepped in.  
"I hate throwing the stone at you, Daniel. But I have to agree with the... colonel. I… I don't intend to change. We know what's going on out there," she pointed her finger at the sky, "We have to comply here, sure, and make the better of this situation. But I… I intend to… fight the 'Fight' and I will prepare myself in consequence."  
Teal'c nodded, Jack seemed to approve. But Daniel wasn't entirely convinced.  
"But I trust you all... I mean I trust them, the others, to do what they have to. And I'm confident they will manage without us. We don't have to be involved anymore...," said Daniel in defence.  
"I'm not sure you realize our situation here," Sam protested and continued, "Can you really believe that you can push away all your memories, the people you met and cared about, your own sense of purpose... just like that?"  
She couldn't stop herself to voice her inner turmoil and retorted acutely, "No matter how many regrets you possess, don't you think, right now, that you are who you are, who you're supposed to be?"  
"But I understand that with your past records, you are more likely to choose this kind of alternative," Sam added lower, so low that it was barely heard.  
"What do you mean?" asked Daniel a bit confused.  
Sam glanced heavily at Jack and Teal'c, but then kept her head bowed avoiding looking at Daniel.  
"When you ascended," answered Jack with a sigh in her place.  
"You just did that, of course you didn't really have that much of a choice but still, you pushed us away and took another path," he concluded.  
Daniel was a bit shocked by this near- accusation.  
"Don't take it like a reproach," intervened finally Sam, "What I mean is we can't make or apply the same decision for ourselves, we are who we are. And, Daniel, you… you're not someone to become... you have nothing to prove to us, to yourself... to anybody for that matter."  
"You know, Danny boy, if you expect Teal'c to get a decent sense of humour for a change, I think you ask the impossible," added Jack playfully, trying to change the mood.  
A look at Teal'c and Daniel saw that he approved what the others said. Sam and Jack had come to a conclusion that the black boy hadn't reached by himself but which had anchored deeper and deeper in his soul as the words had flowed. Teal'c could do nothing but embrace their position.  
For a moment, nobody broke the mild silence which reflected their disturbed but quieter turmoil.  
"Teal'c will always be a former jaffa," Sam finally commented in a peaceful tone, "I supposed that Jack," she insisted oddly, "and I will always be military officers."  
"As for you and I, we'll always be scientist," she made her final point.  
The tension in Daniel's face and composure eventually deflated.  
"You're right. There're things that aren't meant to change," Daniel said softly.  
Then he smiled and the heavy mood disappeared immediately.  
"And others that can be change. For now guys, try to get rid of that bad naming habit," Daniel told them gently scolding.  
"I will work on this issue and I will overcome this problem, I assure you, Daniel," Teal'c promised fairly.  
Some habits were nothing but habits, Teal'c said to himself.

"Same, no problem!" claimed Jack.

"Sure," agreed Sam.  
Though the two of them had never protested against this precise point in the first place, their words weighed heavily in their minds. Jack knew that whatever he had stated, life would change him, irremediably. For Sam, her agreement rang a gloomy bell and she wasn't sure she was quite ready to face what was to come.  
"Ok, buddies, let's go eat!" claimed Jack.  
They got out of the classroom into the racket that was a High School corridor, once again united against what the world would throw at them.

x–x–x

Dossier n° 376-6821, 376-6822, 376-6823, 376-6824  
Session 04-XXX-002  
Subjects:

Jonathon O'Neill (former Colonel USAF)  
Samantha Carter (former Major USAF, PhD in Astrophysics, Engineering, Informatics...)  
Daniel Jackson (former PhD in Archaeology, Linguistics, Anthropology...)  
Murray Teal'c Ronson (former Alien)

Notes: After the first sessions with the patients, the need to see them as a group and in a group was reinforced for all sorts of reasons. The most obvious one is to subdue a face to face between O'Neill and the rest of his team. But after the discussion with Carter, it was evident that the behaviour of each of these individuals will only make sense if placed in their context meaning placed in continuity with their group dynamic.

The previous observations showed that they do work like a wolf pack.  
An evolved, advanced and civilized pack but which primal dynamic stays basic.

I spent a great amount of time reading reports and watching tapes. And I came to draw a few patterns.

Let's begin with a simple example, a currently meaningful sample of their dynamics: their positions when presented to people they don't yet know or to people that threatens them.

Pattern 1

BACK

Teal'c  
x x Daniel x Sam  
x x x x x Jack

FRONT

Pattern 2

BACK

Teal'c  
x x Daniel  
x x x x Sam

FRONT

Pattern 3

BACK

Teal'c  
x x Daniel  
x x x Jack

FRONT

Pattern 4

BACK

Teal'c  
x x x x Sam  
x x Jack

FRONT

Pattern 5

BACK

Sam  
x x Daniel  
x x x x Jack

FRONT

Those patterns were extrapolated from the observations made. They aren't fixed and usually change depending of the circumstance. Nonetheless they appear to be the skeleton of the team.

They reveal that:  
O'Neill is the unquestionable and unquestioned leader.  
Teal'c is always the one who look at their backs. He is also the one whose responsibility is simply to watch.  
Jackson is always in the middle. He is the one they're all cautious about.  
Carter is the one who is specially charged to protect and support the leader.

But it isn't as simple.  
For instance, O'Neill will always leave Jackson more space and overture while he nonetheless keeps an eye on him. Doing that, he will always present his back to Carter.  
You might understand it like O'Neill recognizes Jackson as a possible beta male who needs to be watched or as a young male who needs to be encouraged. Or that O'Neill tries to shield Carter, a weaker female. Or maybe ignore Carter because she is a submissive female.  
You would be wrong.  
The core of their dynamic resides in the trust and knowledge they have for and in each other.  
Presenting one's back to someone else in an unknown even dangerous situation shows a total trust in the other person. Turning so to leave overture to someone behind shows an obvious protectiveness.

However Jackson isn't the weak link, here. On the contrary, he is what the team considers its Ace card.  
Moreover Carter isn't just O'Neill's shadow, she is the brain.  
Teal'c isn't just the follower, he is the guardian.  
And finally, O'Neill isn't the absolute leader: he is the team's spokesman.

When it comes to two of them, the dynamic keeps the same spirit.  
O'Neill will be in the front line.  
Teal'c will be in the back line.  
Carter and Jackson when they are only the two of them will stand on the same level.

This dynamic emerges automatically and affects their behaviour all the time.

In that light, this is what appeared from the first sessions:  
Jack said few but showed his leader's responsibilities to look at his team.  
Teal'c said few but was showing interest in understanding what he sees.  
Daniel said much, part genuine concern about their situation then sincere reactions when it comes to his feelings.  
Sam said much but mainly voiced the position of the team considering their welfare.

If you know how to watch, you can easily put away their personal remarks even if they are sincere and meaningful. What you see when you gather their individual sessions, selecting the elements concerning only their team, is so much revealing, it makes so much sense. Each one of them states unconsciously the position, claim... complaint of the entity that they formed.  
It is both so simple and means so much. It doesn't have the depth or the excellence of an ultimate revelation, nothing extraordinary. But the way it naturally, unconsciously flows and merges up from these latent dynamic currents is incontrovertibly unique.

Their behaviours acquire a whole different perspective when you look at them as an entity.  
Watching them together will surely be most interesting.

Literal transcription: - Good morning.

Sam: Good morning, Sir!  
Daniel: Good morning Doctor.  
Teal'c: Greetings!  
Jack: Colonel!

(Silence)

- Come in, all of you.

(Wait)

- Sit down, please! As you can see, today, we will have a group session...

Daniel: May I ask you if there's a particular reason to that?

- Oh, do you have some reservation?

Daniel: Of course n... y... Okay I have no idea.

Sam: It's a bit unexpected, sir, so we just want to know why. Will you tell us?

Jack: It's obvious! Butchers playing surgeons with people's brain. Might I say bloody work?

Teal'c: You are making an analogy, Jack. I do not understand it however. Doctor Cartwright is nor a butcher nor that kind of doctor.

Jack: Yeah! Whatever!

Daniel: Jack doesn't think highly of psychologist, let's not say military psychiatrist, Murray. He thinks they play with people's mind and doesn't care about the state they leave them.

Sam: He had bad experiences with some of them.

Teal'c: I see.

Jack: Whatever! He just wants to play with our minds till we spit some kind of pattern that he can use to support whatever theory he has concerning us... And I dare you to say otherwise.

Teal'c: I see.

Jack: So Doc, what's up?

- I just thought it makes a lot of sense to see you together. You're a cohesive and closed team. It would have been stupid to disregard this factor.

Jack: He's good! Quite impressive diverted answer that was!- You haven't answered my question by the way. Do you have reservation?

(Silence)

Daniel: The situation is complicated and you know it. I suppose that in theory we aren't opposed to these group gatherings. But you can't expect that manipulating us will make us happy about it. There's a big potential of harm, here.

Sam: We are private persons who respect each other privacy. I don't think putting us in this kind of um...

Teal'c: Confrontation.

Sam: Thanks, Teal'c.

Teal'c: You're welcome, Sam.

Sam: Um…

Daniel: What Sam wanted to say is that this kind of confrontation won't help us. It only serves you.

Jack: See! My team's brilliant.

(Silence)

Jack: We aren't pawns in your chess game. So quit it!

- I... I apologize. I suppose I... I didn't mean it like that.

Jack: What do you want from us?

(Silence)

Daniel: At least for today.

Jack: Of course for today, what did you think I was thinking? That he had an ulterior motive like sucking our soul out and draining our body?

Daniel: It sounded a bit overly dramatic, that's all!

Jack: It didn't!

Daniel: Did!

Jack: Didn't!

Daniel: Did too!

Jack: Did not!Sam: Um... Guys! It's not the time to... You know.

Teal'c: Please, Doctor, you should pursue!

- Of course... I had few worries about how you, all of you, will react to the changes of the last weeks. So I planned just to ask you how you handle the pressure. Teal'c, how do you find school?

Teal'c: Our previous discussion was really helpful. I am still perplexed about a lot of things. First, I have never lived among the Tau'ri before... because of my symbiote.

Daniel: But I thought your symbiote was removed.

Teal'c: That is correct. I was depending on tretonin after the ambush on Kresh'taa.

Sam: It wasn't that long ago. Murray hadn't got the time yet to move out of the base.

Jack: Plus, he's never requested it.

Sam: Oh.

Teal'c: The idea has never come to my mind but it is certain I would have requested it sooner or later.

- By the way how are you handling things since the loss of your symbiote, Teal'c?

(Silence)

Teal'c: I had what you might call an Epiphany, not long before the cloning. I am fine. It is also a good thing that I am not depending on any drug now. And school is definitely interesting.

- It is a lot of changes in a short amount of time for you Teal'c and if you say that everything's fine, I believe you. But you're all in a similar situation. Daniel, how was that first day at school?

Daniel: (laugh) Absolutely scary! I was mortified... but... an angel saved me.

Sam: Stop with that!

Daniel: (laugh) Sam's the angel.

Jack: Tsssk Another guy who fall for that cliché. You won't believe how many men she has seduced with this card!

Sam: (sigh) Tell me Doctor, why is he doing that now? If I didn't know better, I would think he is picking a fight.

Daniel: (big laugh)

Sam: You can laugh all you want but the next time "they" harass you... you will be on your own… dear!

Jack: (laugh)

Sam: And Jack, be careful of what you pick, you might have it!

(Silence)

Teal'c: They have been behaving in a slightly different way since the cloning. Do we have to fear they had been altered during the process?

Jack: For crying out loud!  
Sam (at the same time): Teal'c!  
Daniel (at the same time): Stop joking!

Daniel: You know the doctor will take you seriously.

Jack: T, how many times I have to repeat, you have to give a clue that you're kidding otherwise it isn't funny at all.

Teal'c: Was I joking?

Sam: Okay, Murray, you have a point. But as you know, we are clones. Of course we have been altered, you more than anyone. However I suppose you were talking about our minds.

Daniel: Our dynamic has in fact changed. But it is to be expected.

Jack: Yep! No need to worry. The doctor will confirm it, won't you Doc?

- It isn't surprising, no. And it doesn't mean that something is wrong. But I might say, Teal'c, that what you are concerned about is only the effects of what we call... hormones.

Jack: Heyyy!

Daniel: (laugh)

Teal'c: Hormones...

- It is a biological substance exuded...

Sam: Teal'c knows about it, sir!

Teal'c: Thank you, Doctor. I see now.

Jack: (cough)

(silence)

Sam: Could we talk about something else? I would be really pained if one of my teammates died of embarrassment.- I'm glad that you had overcome your anxiety issue towards school, Daniel. Anyway I can see that you are behaving more... friendly...

Daniel: I'd rather say childishly.

Sam: I presume it is because of the situation, living together, school... and the lack of "regulations".

Jack: Humph!

Teal'c: It is also possible that the loss of the impeding threat and this new perspective of life had released lighter behaviours that had always been there.

- I concur, Teal'c, you are right. Um… Jack, do you have anything to add?

Jack: I don't know what you want me to say. Why would I have something to say? They were clear enough.

(Silence)

Daniel: It is odd that even Teal'c talks more than you, Jack.

Sam: (giggle)

Jack: I have nothing to say, Doc.

(Silence)

Daniel: He can do that for a long, long period of time. So better move to another topic.

- Okay! Sam, how is school?

Sam: Um, what do you mean?

- You weren't particularly enthusiastic about it, or particularly anxious, might I say. I thought that maybe it would be boring for you.

Sam: It isn't boring... I suppose.

Jack: But?

Sam: I'm really doing it seriously. Attending to classes, participating, taking notes...

Jack: Really pretty detailed notes!

Sam: As I said, I do it seriously but it is true that it isn't challenging. Nonetheless I believe it'll be fine. I already had approval to continue my works. On wormhole physics, naquada applications and every technology I had already encountered.

Jack: You did?

Sam: Yes, same as Daniel.

Jack: Daniel? You too?

Daniel: Of course.

Jack: Why haven't you told me?

Sam: Well, I guess it was pretty obvious...

Daniel: Did you notice there were a lab and a library in our new house?

Jack: Oh!

Teal'c: I came to that conclusion, myself. It is not a surprise to see both of our scientists pursue their works.

- Please continue, Sam?

Sam: So I was saying that I did have approval to continue my works and I always wanted to do some research and write. I guess I have enough time now.  
I've already started to compile data and report. But I'm waiting for my lab to be ready... there're lots of security protocols that need to be implemented. Some standard procedures like airtight closure, airing, soundproofing, electrical and wave protection. Of course I would add some personal designed conception. I think of an anaerobic work area and also a system for liquid air... Unfortunately I will be restricted on 'alien' materials, which at some point will obviously be de... Sorry, you don't need those details... do you?

In conclusion, I'm fine and school is... enjoyable.

Jack: Thank you Carter! Very interesting! Glad... you stopped.

Sam: You're welcome, Sir!

Jack: So Danny too will keep on working. I have a question however.

Daniel: On what I'm supposed to work on?

Jack: Of course... not.

Daniel: Yeah it would have been shocking.

Teal'c: Indeed.

Sam: (small chuckle) Yep.

Jack: Okay, okay. My question is for the two of you.

Sam: Please, ask.

Daniel: We're listening.

Jack: Will you be paid for that?

Sam: Pertinent question.

Daniel: Delicate answer.

Jack: How so? It's either yes or no.

Sam: You know our situation. We are underage. We can't effectively touch whatever money we can earn.

Daniel: It is delicate. We have at our disposition a special account to purchase materials, documents, anything we need... I wouldn't be able to do research studies without this financial support.

Sam: Materials are really high cost particularly in my area of expertise. And in Daniel's, artefacts can't even be bought only burrowed. It's the contacts, the relationships that are the most important. They also provide us with that.

Jack: So no, huh?

(Silence)

Jack: Just admit it. You work for free, just for prestige... for the good of humanity!

Teal'c: I do not see it is a bad thing, Jack.

Daniel: I never was interested in money.  
Sam: I was in the army, it speaks for itself.

- Jack, I see that you are still fixed on that financial dependency issue.

Jack: Duh.

(Silence)

Sam: You know, he isn't the only one concerned about it. We are like prisoners. More or less willing. In fact we're treated worse than prisoners on parole.

Daniel: Um... Might I recall you how women were treated in past civilisations and still are now in many cultures? They weren't inevitably locked out or beat up. But in all these cultures, they were dependant on their father, their brothers, or their husband to do anything. They always needed to refer to a man. It is some kind of vicious slavery.

Jack: And I was the one overly dramatic?

Daniel: It is an analogy. But you have to admit there're some resemblances.

Teal'c: I understand and share the same concern. As an alien, I had not really got the opportunity to experience the um…full use of getting a salary. But not having the liberty to live as one want but according to someone else's rules, by mind programming, by genetic manipulation or by any kind of restriction is a situation that I had faced under Goa'uld hands. Considering that it is evident that we would have obeyed willingly, for my part as for my companions, I cannot stop being concerned about it.

(Silence)

- I see.

(Silence)

- I guess you're right. The government, I included, we are using you, trying to control you, manipulate you without regards for your free will. It is what we do. If it had been only you Jack, the situation wouldn't be the same. But you brought back another SG-1.  
Your minds are one valuable thing. But you, as a team, you are priceless. Do you realize how many things all of you have done for us these past years? Sure they want to use you.  
It is how it works.  
In another hand, I hope you realize that even as clones, the situation is that if anyone of you requests anything to the president, he would feel obliged to grant it.  
It is pretty funny to state it, but you're not treated as prisoner... you're just treated as... child. And until your body shows otherwise, unfortunately it won't change because legally you don't have that freedom.

(Silence)

- Consider yourself at the beginning of a new life...

**FIN  
**

AUTHOR'S NOTES:  
I took the idea of clones of the entire SG-1 from "Monkey Screaming" by SGCBear which didn't really inspire me but which I vaguely based my series on. Since we are in 'fanficdom', it's ridiculous to point out I'm stealing characters and plot since I'm already stealing them big time which isn't an excuse to do so, of course .  
I'm just considering this fic as another version of a same theme. Anyway, truth is SGCBear's fic wasn't at all what decided me to write this series, I've first read (and loved) it ages ago.  
What I like in fanfic is essentially the team's dynamic and of course the characters. But most of all, on TV, SG-1 is changing/ has changed (for the better or the worse).

So this new series of mine is especially dedicated to SG-1 as we used to know them (or more correctly as I imagine they were).  
That said; I have to warn you that English isn't my first language and the stories still need to be 'betaed'. Any volunteers are welcomed!  
I tried to make Teal'c as formal as he is supposed to be, Daniel fast mouth and academic, Sam logic and scientist, Jack informal and the Doctor professional. I apologize if it didn't sound exactly right. It's totally coming from a lack of command of language on my part.

NB: Okay now, there is this sentence in my fic that I didn't explain because it isn't from me but directly from SGCBear. It's when Teal'c says "We are not Goa'uld". You should go read her fic if only to know how deep and meaningful that only sentence is. I don't linger on it because it's not mine to stage or explain. You don't need it to enjoy the fic but still, I couldn't decide to remove it, even if it's patented, copyrighted, trademarked and has SGCBear's stamp on it. I apologize a thousand times. I really didn't want to steal it, I'm not even borrowing it and giving it back afterwards (kinda)… it's a tribute… really, I swear! Don't lynch me!


	2. Year One story Two: Self Defense 1

**Title**: Self Defense  
**Series**: New Balance: Year One, Story Two Part One (2 of ?)  
**Author**: queen  
**Category**: Gen, Humor, Casual, Angst, Hurt/Comfort  
**Pairings&Co**: Team (friendship)  
**Spoilers**: random past season references  
**Season / Sequel**: Season 7 and previous story(s) of New Balance Series  
**Rating**: PG-13 – T  
**Content Warnings**: Language?  
**Summary**: Times goes on and not surprisingly a member of the team has trouble handling things.  
**Disclaimer**: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money whatsoever has exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The situations and original story are the property of the author. Not to be archived without permission of the author.

o–o

**NEW BALANCE:**

**SELF DEFENSE  
(PART I)**

_Your spirit is the true shield_.

_True victory is self-victory._

_Failure is the key to success; each mistake teaches us something._

The Art of Peace, Morihei Ueshiba.

x–x–x

In a house located in an allotment of similar houses, in the first room of four on the first and only floor of this house (if you don't count the attic or the basement), in the cocoon of pillows and blankets disposed on the bed at the center of this particular room, one boy was sleeping.

Everything was quiet, the curtains were drawn but few ethereal rays coming from the outside were diffusing a cold light. There was enough lighting to distinguish the surroundings and particularly the vague form of a body lying in the bed.

The digital clock on the bed-table indicated 2:14 am.

Suddenly, movement came from the figure on the bed. Nothing abrupt and nothing unusual, the boy was still very fast asleep. However, after awhile, he let slip a light moan as he seemed to grow uncomfortable.

The next moment, Daniel Jackson, the boy in the bed, woke up (or close to anyway).

_Pee. Need to pee_.

Half asleep, he discarded his quilt; the fresh air that brushed his tepid skin didn't succeed to wake him further. His messy hair dangled before his eyes; he was on automatic mode. A bare foot on the carpet was quickly followed by the other; he finally stood straight slightly unsteady but firm on his feet and proceeded to walk to his door. Hand on the knob, the door slid open; the colder air and the chilly floor of the hall made him shiver but mostly unperceptive, he passed on to his immediate destination.

He didn't notice the open door of the room across; he didn't go and check on the person who was supposed to occupy the room across; he didn't realize that there was no one in the room across. No. Daniel went into the restroom not far away on the same side of his own room; the cold tiling made him quiver but he easily pushed away the passing feeling and remained contently in his slumbered state.  
He turned the light on, pulled down his breeches, got his privates out and took a satisfying and satisfied leak. Once done, he packed up, flushed the toilet, turned the light off and went on his way back. Once more, he passed before the open door of the room across his own, even more oblivious and a step further into his sleeping slumber.  
He didn't check on his friend who was supposed to sleep in the bed of the room; he didn't notice that his friend wasn't tucked safely and warmly in the bed of the room; he didn't wonder where his friend could be in the still of the night if not in the bed of the room. No. Daniel went into his room, shut his door behind him, rushed into the cosy haven of his bed, closed his eyelids and was, once again, completely out in dreamland.

x–x–x

"Daniel Jackson!" a voice was taunting him over and over again.  
Daniel moaned nonsensical words to the world, particularly directed to the person who was disturbing him; it could have been words of protest or words of reassurance (no one knows… including, at the time, Daniel).  
"DanielJackson, you must wake up in order to prepare for another day of education!" The young and tall boy standing at Daniel's bed said calmly, outstanding proof of his ever-so-long patience, since he had been repeating equivalent lines for the past fifteen or so minutes – and thus without success.  
"Mmm… mwan…mmdo," mumbled the sleeping boy stubbornly gathering his quilt over him.

Eventually, Murray Teal'c Ronson bowed his head swiftly in surrender and went out of the room. Arriving before the closed door of the bathroom, he knocked and then talked to the person inside.  
"Jack O'Neill, I fear that you have to take the matter of Daniel in your capable hands!" He said loud but far from shouting as his composure would not permit him.  
Behind the door, the water stopped flowing.  
"Okay T, no problem! Go get your stuff and get down, I'll be out in a minute," a young voice answered him after a moment.

Teal'c went then to his room to get his backpack. When he passed again before the bathroom, the door opened and Jack O'Neill appeared, mostly dressed but a towel on his head, scrubbing energetically.  
"Good morning! The sun is shining, the birds are singing and Daniel is sleeping! A great day, I say!" claimed the boy with a wide smile and obviously in a good mood.  
"Greetings, Jack! I am grateful to you for taking care of this… this for me," said Teal'c, "I can not seem to comprehend why Daniel asks me to wake him up in the morning when he is highly unresponsive to my pleas!"  
Jack only laughed as an answer and went away toward his room.

Then Teal'c went downstairs. He found Samantha Carter in the kitchen, sat at the table, a plate of partially eaten pancakes and a mug before her, all the while seemingly engrossed in a scientific magazine.  
"Good morning, Sam!" The boy greeted her while putting down his bag next to the entryway.  
"Hi, Murray!" the girl finally noticed him and threw him a glance quickly accompanied with a quick smile.  
"Do you want some pancakes? I've just made them," she said and added without waiting his answer, "Help yourself, they are on the counter behind!"  
"Thank you, I will do so!" the boy answered and went to take a plate.  
With a pleased expression, Sam returned to the article she was reading.

At that moment a racket was heard coming from the first floor, more precisely coming from Daniel's room.  
"Wakey, wakey, Daniel!" a voice shouted, followed by more rackets.  
Sam left her magazine once more and eyed a suspicious gaze at the ceiling.  
"Um, Murray! I suppose you've left, once again, the charge of waking Daniel to Jack," she commented, then not really sympathetically she added,"Poor Daniel!"  
"Daniel, wakey, wakey… Oohoo, wake up, OOHOO, WAKE UP!" the voice persisted.  
Teal'c sat at the table, opened a jar and started to spread jam on his pancakes.  
"Indeed!" he said not commenting further.  
"Waaakey, wakeeeeey, Daaaaaaaanieeeeeeel!" the voice was restless and unquestionably very obnoxious.  
Some more racket was heard then a sudden thud.  
"JAACK, will you SHUT UP!" They finally heard Daniel snapped.  
"I can't believe it – you made me fall! Stop jumping on my bed and get OUT! I'm up now!" his voice could be distinctly heard.  
"Jack O'Neill is always successful in his course of action! It is really good, my compliments, Samantha!" Teal'c retorted between two bites of his strawberry covered pancakes.  
"I can see that… and thanks," Sam replied while standing up and getting a glass of orange juice. She also filled a glass of milk and put it next to Teal'c's plate. The boy thanked her, drank from the glass and took a banana from the fruit basket on the table. Sam went to take a bowl in a cupboard, a spoon in a drawer, the fruit loops on the counter and put them on the table at a vacant place.

The next minute, Jack descended the stairs, his backpack in his hand. He passed next the living room and threw his bag on the couch.  
"Hello Sam!" Jack said with a wide grin.  
"Good morning!" answered Sam while eventually putting the glass of orange juice and the bottle of milk in front of the bowl.  
"Thanks," the boy said to her and nodded at Teal'c, "Mission accomplished!"

Then Jack sat down and began his breakfast. Sam, still standing, went to turn on the coffee machine, got sugar then cream and put them on the counter next to a big clean mug. Once done, she finally settled down and resumed her reading.

For awhile, a casual and uninterrupted silence fell down on the three teens as they were occupied with their morning routine.

Taking another mouthful of his fruit loops (the thought of being surprised to still be fond of the said brand has unexpectedly never crossed his mind twice), Jack finally noticed the appetizing dish his companions were having for breakfast.  
"T! Pancakes!"  
The taller teenager had now devoured the entire content of his plate and was attacking with calm enthusiasm (more like declared pillage) the basket of fruits.  
"Sam made them," was the short answer the black boy gave as he was pealing an orange.  
"Carter!" Jack scoffed.  
"As in Carter cooking?" Jack gibed with the same foreboding tone.  
"That's a pretty scary picture! Are you sure it isn't toxic… least of all edible?" The young boy stressed in a blatant manner as to attract the attention of the third person (pathetic attempt at teasing and verging on the borderline of insult but it's only an opinion). His effort went in vain since the girl in question was completely oblivious to his little histrionics. In the end her attitude left him unsettled to how to proceed further.  
It took him the matter of a second to act (which in his perspective of dilated time means a great deal of thinking).  
He moved his hand toward the so-interesting magazine and pushed it down.  
"Sam! Pancakes!" He repeated once their eyes met.  
The glassy quality in her gaze faded and her pupils focused suddenly before she stammered a response.  
"Oh! Okay! Sure you can have mines, no problem! Here!"  
She pushed her plate in his direction with an earnest and altogether innocent expression. All in her demeanor showed how genuine her misleading understanding of the situation was and how little (or not at all) she had heard his rantings.  
Jack pondered and hesitated. Would he decline and keep on belittling her cooking skills? He really did ponder but the compelling had abruptly disappeared and in this precise moment, the only reaction out of him was the one he adopted.  
"Yeahsureyoubetcha!" He blurted in a high-pitched voice.  
He smiled stupidly (note that his answer really doesn't make a lot of sense in the present context, not that what he says really does always make sense or has to make sense – in most situations anyway).  
With the fork he borrowed from her, he took a bite; she ate them with maple syrup just like him and he savored the way it melted delicately on his tongue, all along under her watchful eyes.  
He sighed with pleasure.  
"Sweet!"  
Sam's gaze softened as a wave of tenderness veiled her expression. It went straight to Jack's heart which pumped loudly as he was getting lost in the moment. And when she finally talked, he almost jolted.  
"Before you start, know that I can manage breakfast… do almost any kind of pie… bake some cakes… and most importantly, my cookies are killers," she claimed spark in the eyes and smile on the lips.  
Jack's eyes in turn widened with childish jubilation at her words.  
"But… But that's the best food!" he stammered and then blurted, "That's excellent!"  
"Excellent!" He repeated once more with a boyish gloating grin.  
He finished the plate with avidity.  
"You're full of surprises, Sam!" He commented, glad that she was still gazing at him, the affection not having left her face.  
"Oh but you hardly know all about me," Sam retorted.  
There hadn't been an ounce of teasing coming from her during the whole conversation and if Jack had been more heedful, he would have noticed her dreamy and nostalgic spirit. But there was no harm in being teasing, no harm in just enjoying the mood.  
"Oh, is that it?"  
"So tell me something I don't know!" Jack dared her.  
She took a moment.  
"Um let me think… I… I was a chorister from nine to twelve at St Joseph Church in Hampton, Virginia," she said.  
"A chorister huh?" repeated Jack.  
"What is a chorister?" interjected Teal'c surprising Jack who had forgotten he was even there in the first place.  
"That means she used to be a singer in the choir of a church," Jack explained quickly recovering his mind.  
Teal'c frowned slightly (which means nothing or anything and is entirely left to your own interpretation).  
"Why did you stop by the way?" Jack enquired.  
"I don't know if that counts since you already know I'm level three in hand to hand combat but I'm ranked kyu two, which isn't really high anyway, in Aikido," Sam kept on.  
Jack's face revealed a state of confusion (rapid switch of topic often does that to him).  
Sam chuckled in response but turned first to Teal'c.  
"Aikido is a martial art."  
She eventually turned to Jack.  
"And before you start again, no I'm not avoiding your question, Jack!"  
"That is most interesting, Samantha, maybe you could explain to me later how it is practiced since Jack, here, seems so eager to obtain the answer to his inquiry," Teal'c said before standing up to get the remaining pancakes on the counter.  
"So? Why did you stop then?" Jack barely waited till the other boy finished his sentence.  
"The year I got twelve, I think it was in February, I fell sick, an angina. It was pretty serious… Once cured, I discovered that I didn't get my voice back. I mean singing not speaking voice… I've never known if it was because of the illness itself or because my voice just broke, you know."  
Jack was intently listening just attentive in learning more on her past. On his side, Teal'c was clearly intrigued as he ate the pancakes.  
"And there is always the option that it was all in my head," Sam laughed, "To tell you the truth; I was quite relieved at the time. I started it – singing – because I liked carols. But oh you can't imagine how petty the competition was inside…"  
"It was plain ugly at times!" she finished with a sigh.  
Sam closed her eyes and dipped her head, something having disturbed her train of thoughts. But she recovered in a blink of an eye. Jack chuckled heedless of her brief lapse.  
"And last but not least, I once won the first place at an art contest," claimed Sam forcefully cheerful.

She showed to her audience a calculated smirk.  
Jack startled, disbelief clearly flashing on his face while Teal'c raised his right eyebrow very high.  
Seeing their expressions, Sam could only burst into laugh.

Daniel chose that moment to appear at the bottom of the stairs. He put down his bag on the ground and joined them.  
While still wet from the shower and standing on his feet, Daniel couldn't exactly be qualified as fully awake… yet (not if awake means being the sensitive, kind and intelligent Daniel everybody knows).  
"Hey I'm telling you the truth," Sam protested between two giggles.  
Daniel quickly poured down coffee in his mug, added a large quantity of cream and three lumps of sugar. Despite of all its inconvenience (which nowadays for Daniel can be summed up to its awful taste) Daniel could not go without coffee, especially in the morning. And as he gulped his first sup, his body finally relaxed and his mind fortunately cleared.  
"What were you saying?" Daniel asked as he noticed the laughing mood.  
"Hi Daniel!" Sam smiled to him in a vaguely conniving demeanor.  
"Hi guys!" Daniel greeted them dismissively, turning most of his attention to his drink.  
"Sam was trying to make us buy she won a prize in an art contest," Jack answered.  
"Indeed, it is highly suspicious," Teal'c confirmed.  
Daniel was anything but remotely grudgeful or not easily distracted. That and the coffee circulating in his veins made him forget and forgive the morning events.  
"Oh you mean when she got first place and her drawing was hang for people to see," Daniel retorted slowly sipping his drink.  
"What? Is that true?" Jack spurted.  
"Told you so," Sam said smugly.  
"Yeah…" confirmed Daniel.  
"Of course she was four at the time!" Daniel mentioned in a by-the-way manner.  
Sam burst into laugh again seeing the face Jack made.  
"Unfortunately as you are, oh so well, aware of, my drawing skill hasn't improved since then," she concluded dramatically but grinning.  
"Daniel, how do you know about this?" Jack realized inquisitive.  
"Oh… That's because…" Daniel began naturally and stopped steeply, "I don't know… I don't remember."  
After his descent from the higher plane of existence (does that sound as ostentatious as it sounds for me?), Daniel hadn't completely recovered all his memories and sometimes his mind came blank right in the middle of a conversation… totally unexpectedly.  
"I'm sure it will come back but I guess Sam just told me!"  
Heedless and with easy disregard, Daniel poured down the coffee left from the pot and after flavouring it to his taste, drank it all up. Jack frowned but let the matter slip, somehow it bothered him but it wasn't really important and would not be answered in the near future, seeing the way Sam was returning her attention to her magazine.  
So brandishing his stolen fork, Jack attempted to pick up the last pancake… but already Teal'c had claimed it. Wanting to dispute the piece of food, he gazed at the other boy. But Teal'c threw him a death glare and taken aback, Jack retreated.  
"Wow, T, scary, remind me to never step between you and your food… ever!"  
Foiled, Jack sipped the sugary milk of his bowl and drank up his orange juice.  
Once finished, he got up and began to clear out the table. He put the dirty dishes in the dishwasher including Sam's mug and Teal'c's flatware. He stowed away the milk, the jam and the cereals while Teal'c began to clean the table with a sponge. Daniel did the same on his side and soon the kitchen was in order.  
"Okay let's go now! Time's up," Jack claimed as he snapped the magazine from Sam's hands, "you can read that… another time!"  
Taken by surprise and at fault, Sam smiled shyly and got up. Suddenly, she grabbed Daniel's arm getting his attention.  
"Oh Daniel, I almost forgot, I saved a large pancake for you in the oven, I rolled it with chocolate paste as you like!" Daniel's face lightened and he spontaneously gave her a peck on the cheek.  
"Thanks!" Daniel didn't wait and went to pick up his treat.  
Sam smiled with the similar tenderness shown earlier while Daniel joyfully took a bite. Putting the magazine in a corner, Jack frowned again but turned his head away and went looking for his bag.  
"You can't feed on coffee no matter how temping it is," Sam winked at Daniel.  
"I concur, it is most unhealthy to not have sufficient sustenance at the beginning of the day," Teal'c agreed.  
"And God forbid Teal'c to go around without an over-filled stomach or Daniel with an empty one!" Jack scorned.

They quickly dressed up in their thick coats as the weather was getting colder. They walked in the entryway all geared up and ready to face another day (clear reminiscence of the old times, isn't it?).  
"Here we are, folks!" Jack claimed as he opened the front door.

x–x–x

The school grounds were always crowded when lunch time came. A continuous at times energizing at times simply nagging background noise was roaming through the halls. And the place where the noise was at its pike, particularly at this time of the day, was none other than the cafeteria.

As nobody dared to face the low temperature and the absence of sunlight outdoors, the majority of the students gathered inside the large room, spending more time chatting than actually eating.

It was among those groupings that two teenagers whose appearances were rather contrasting – one was an energetic slender brown-haired boy, the other a stolid sturdy tall black boy – cleared their way to a vacant table while carefully handling their trays.

The two were in the middle of an intense conversation, one that appeared to be running for a long time already.

"I do not see the point in such an activity," the black teen said in a really unexpected formal manner that contradicted with his looks, he was in fact sporting a flashy attire which branded the name of a famous basketball team.  
"What is wrong with you guys? Where is it you – people – picked up that every single – damned – thing should have a reason to it?" the other responded with much more emotion and emphasis.

Finally, they both reached their table and settled down pursuing their discussion (about a matter that no outside observers can make out at this point, I guess that includes you).

"But that activity you are describing has an aim. You said that the score will determine the winner. Still it does not make sense," said Teal'c examining his tray and considering what he would start with first.  
"Oh for crying out loud, you just have to put the ball in the hoop!" cried out Jack refusing to sit down and gesticulating.  
"I must repeat. There is no point in this game," Teal'c threw him a firm glance conveying his inflexible stance.  
"And I must repeat too – so what?" Jack finally sat on his chair.  
The black teen didn't answer; he had already begun to eat. Jack followed his lead and also attacked his main dish.  
"Since you so want a point, see this one – Danny has his history club, Sam her science club – we really need an extra credit to complete our course, that's it," Jack added after thinking.  
"It was not my point," Teal'c replied immediately.  
"Ah ah ah, stop with your point thing right here right now!" Jack waved his knife at Teal'c, the knife being in his right hand at the time.  
Suddenly, they were interrupted by another boy trying to sit next to Jack.  
"Uh uh! You can't sit here, pal!" Jack responded de facto with a shake of his head.  
The boy apologized and quickly took off without making a scene.  
"What is so bad with basketball anyway?" Jack came back on the topic at stake making it finally clear (for us).  
"The ball should only be advanced on the court by dribbling which by your description means bouncing it on the ground, although there seems to have some variations which I did not understand from your explanation. What I mean is it does not appear to be the most efficient way to get the ball through the hoop," Teal'c explained himself taking a long pause from eating, which he rushed into immediately after.  
"Huh?" Jack could only react.  
Teal'c stopped once again to develop.  
"Would it not be more refined to charge?"  
It was Jack's turn to raise his eyebrow as he spoke twisting one corner of his mouth smugly.  
"Refined? Let me laugh! You mean more brutal and potentially bloody! For God's sake, it's basketball not football!" Jack retorted vehemently and then vengefully took a bite from his fork.  
"Maybe then we should choose football as our extra-class activity," Teal'c answered unemotionally.  
"And I'm sure you'll fit perfectly in the decor!" chided Jack and he added, "But I've just got these good bones of mine and I really want to keep them like this, thank you very much, especially the knees."  
"Uh uh Don't pout!" warned Jack with again a wave of his knife.  
"Okay, it's just a manner of speech when applied to you!" he soon corrected under Teal'c heavy gaze and pursued with a sigh, "No really, if it depended on me, I would have taken golf!"  
Teal'c raised his head from his plate.  
"I do appreciate golf, a very endearing discipline!" He retorted genuinely.  
"It is unfortunately not something they propose in high school, such a shame really!" Jack said and pursued, "What about baseball then huh?"  
At this moment the attention of the young boy quickly shifted as his eyes focused on a spot in the distance.

Apparently another boy just appeared with his tray and was surveying the room. As soon as he saw Jack made a sign, he moved in their direction. As he approached, Jack's expression changed again. Seeing his friend frowning, Teal'c turned his head over to take a look.

"Hey Danny, where's Sam?" Jack asked once the other boy was at ear-range.  
"Got paged, she's on the phone," Daniel stated matter-of-factly.  
It seemed to ease the boys as Teal'c returned to his plate and Jack shrugged off.  
Daniel set his tray beside Teal'c and proceeded to sit.  
"Sit next to me, Danny," Jack interrupted him.  
The boy threw him a dubious look.  
"And may I ask why so?" Daniel queried.  
"Don't be silly, flappy boy," Jack retorted, "It's simple. That way nobody will sneak at our table."  
"It hasn't stopped since we arrived, I'm tired of sending people away," Jack claimed exaggerating.  
Daniel still did not move, incredulous.  
"And?" Daniel pressed Jack to elaborate.  
Jack gazed at him conveying a isn't-it-obvious statement.  
"Gee," he sighed and pursued, "and… with you by my side… do you think that anybody will dare to sit next to Murray?"  
Daniel considered his explanation for a moment.  
"T, make your face to Daniel," Jack encouraged.  
"I do not understand your directive," the black boy said.  
"Just look at him for crying out loud!" Jack lost it.  
Teal'c obeyed finally.  
"Okay, Okay, good enough reason… I guess," Daniel spouted before moving next to Jack.  
"And stop calling me by weird names!" He protested as an afterthought.  
"What do you mean Indie boy?" Jack played innocent, his eyes wide and his demeanour nonchalant.

Daniel had no time to argue as the other boy ignoring him raised his arm and waved it.

"Sam!" Jack said as the young girl approached them.  
"Sam, he called me Indie boy!" Daniel greeted her with a whiny voice.  
The young girl in question threw a heavy glance towards the two boys and chose not to comment; instead she put her tray on the only vacant place beside Teal'c and sit down.  
"It is indeed true but for the sake of accurateness Jack O'Neill has also called Daniel Jackson flappy boy," added Teal'c seemingly to fill the passing uncomfortable silence.  
"Hey!" Daniel squeaked.  
"Was it a secret matter?" Teal'c asked (there you won't be exactly wrong to suspect Teal'c having acquired some sense of tau'ri humour… or tau'ri deception… or tau'ri friendly cruelty… no, no, you won't).  
"No… not really but don't… start imitating him, will you?" Daniel stammered wanting to end this course of topic but that was blown out as Sam finally decided to open her mouth.  
"Flappy is rather obvious since you decided to grow out your hair again," she said to Daniel and then turned to Jack, "Am I right in thinking that Indie is a reference to Indiana Jones?"  
"Bright girl!" Jack gloated.  
They all looked at Jack each one with different expression. Sam was smirking lightly, Teal'c seemed curious and Daniel made a face not knowing if he should be flattered or quirked. In the end, Daniel chose to be irritated.  
"The movies were completely incorrect from an archeological point of view," niggled Daniel.  
"They were highly entertaining, I enjoyed them very much," Teal'c countered.  
But Daniel wouldn't give up and continued to glare at Jack.  
"It sure lacks of originality but it's complimenting you, isn't it?" Sam cut in.  
It was Jack's turn to frown up at the remark but Sam threw him a meaningful glance and he kept quiet.  
"I guess Indiana Jones was kinda cool," Daniel finally shrugged off.  
The respite allowed the group to proceed with their lunch, each one at their own pace.

"What's up?" asked Daniel as he remembered Sam having been paged.

Sam appeared hesitant both with the new direction of the discussion and with the food itself displayed on her tray.  
"I am not sure we should discuss it here," she ended up saying.  
The three boys were surprised, they all looked curious at her.  
"Is it, you know, a top-secret stuff?" Daniel reacted in a lower voice.  
Sam finally noticed the additional attention given by her friends as she looked up from her plate.  
"Oh no, not really, I just don't want to spoil the fun," she stammered in an attempt to ease their worry.  
She purposely threw a long sceptical glance at Jack.  
"Why do you look at me?" Jack immediately retaliated.  
The young girl seemed indecisive again, her expression however didn't convey any impression of fear nor any wish to spare him. Truth was her state of mind was quite unreadable.  
"It gets kinda technical and," she began to say in a slurred voice as she didn't seem to want to fight her point.  
"Oh don't stop for me!" Jack interjected not wanting to hear her vindication but mostly heedless to her mood.  
He continued then in a high-pitched tone.  
"I don't need your sparing me, I have survived endless briefings and debriefings of the two of you – combined" he stressed his last remark to both Daniel and Sam.  
"I think I can bear um," he corrected on a whim, "enjoy some additional techie small talk, can't I?"  
Sam barely took a look at him.  
"Okay, if you say so," she added in a breathy voice.  
She turned her attention to Daniel and stated directly to the point.  
"It is bad news for us, Daniel!"  
"Oh!" The boy blurted.  
"Us?" Jack asked voicing his slight confusion.  
"To be precise, it's essentially bad news for me!" Sam cleared with a shrug.  
"They found a serious defect in the vault," she let a sigh escape before continuing with more energy, "The imbeciles made an error of an inch, exactly 2.41 centimetres, in its dimensions, exactly in the inner width."  
Once again she looked inquisitively at Jack waiting for his call.  
"I haven't said nothing! Continue… please," the other boy said defensively.  
"In consequence, the system designed to fetch the items inside the vault is totally ineffective," Sam elaborated, "it just blocks on them… you really wonder why they didn't check before building the wall back, the fools!"  
This time, she looked attentively at the three of them to see their reaction.  
"Oh! I understand!" Daniel blurted, "It must be really frustrating for you Sam!"  
Jack frowned while Teal'c seemed to be even more curious.  
"I'm lost there!" Jack finally commented confused.  
"I do not see why it is concerning you, Samantha!" Teal'c concurred.  
Sam calmly endeavoured to explain to them.  
"The dimensions of the vault were fitted to the exact strict minimum. Now that they've screwed up, they have to completely destroy the vault and start from scratch, which means the lab-installations are postponed to an unknown date."  
"That is indeed a bad news," Teal'c sympathized.  
"That's terrible," Jack felt obligated to assert but not convinced by his statement.  
Used to Jack's flaws, his friends didn't bring out his lack of sincerity.  
"But there is a bright side!" Sam claimed wanting to lighten the mood.  
"Oh there is!" Jack once again played sassy.  
"It's an opportunity to alter the original design," Sam ignored him letting only a brief trace of fatigue passed in her eyes and she added with injected enthusiasm, "I think that a concentric fetching system would increase the diversity of the items stored inside the vault, in the same time it would optimize the space bestowed to the vault."  
"Diversity?" Jack asked.  
"I mean items of different size and volume," Sam explained patiently, "In the previous design, each container was uniform; it was based on the same system video rental machines use, of course, adapted in bigger dimensions."  
"That's great, Sam," Daniel commented, "But what about you?"  
It was easier on Sam now that she was carried on by the movement.  
"Oh I have my particular plan concerning the lab," she said, "a kind of readjustment more like an improvement really," she didn't stop then added, "You see, instead of opting for a rectangle as the base of the vault, a square would permit me to isolate a confined area in extension of the vault, as if imbedded in it which will provide more security for potentially dangerous experimentation," then with genuine excitement she stated, "I would be able to do things I couldn't do without, moreover it would simplify the installations that I've already planned. Of course it would reduce the common area of the lab and it needs to be well thought-out and constructed."  
She offered them a small smile which even despite of his reduced size succeeded to reach her eyes and lighten her whole expression.  
"Lost again!" Jack could not prevent from saying.  
"T?" The boy asked for Murray's support.  
"I do believe that I 'get the picture'," the black teenager contradicted him.  
"Deserter!" Jack muttered then at the amusement of his friends.  
"Yeah but Sam," Daniel quickly came back to the matter at stake, "for it to be functional enough, I mean in my prospective that would mean you will have to lose quite a lot of space."  
Daniel who was one kindred spirit and who shared most of her preoccupations could always pinpoint to the core of the problem.  
"Not really, you know, if they dig a little deeper!" Sam winked at Daniel, "Plus I will also have use for the vault myself so…"  
Being birds of feather really helped the two scientists communicate.  
"Oh, great idea!" Daniel immediately caught up, "That's brilliant. Will you foresee to the operations?"  
"This time, oh yeah!" Sam asserted, "I don't want them to screw up again."  
At this stage, both Teal'c and Jack had time to catch up on the reference and both of them didn't feel quite invested as they had refrained from participating.  
"Nice that you have one another project going on, Carter!" Jack snorted playfully.  
"Yeah, yeah!" Sam responded brushing him off.  
Finally noticing her weird mood, Jack gazed mindfully at her but she showed no further sign though she seemed a little off.

While all the boys had a healthy appetite notwithstanding Teal'c whose appetite was plain gargantuan, Sam was currently picking on her food.  
"Sam, eat!" Jack said kindly, "I don't want you to faint on us."  
"It would be more prudent indeed," Teal'c seconded, "It would not be merciful to abandon your teammates for the advanced physics class of this afternoon."  
"Yeah the teacher will certainly creep out as you seem to be the only person who understands anything at all," Jack added playfully.  
"If it's that, I'm better off," Sam oddly replied, "I don't think he likes me a lot anyway."  
"It's not your fault you're a better teacher than him," Jack said with a smile, "I adored your last demonstration using a donut and a cup of coffee. It was life-enlightening, don't you think T?"  
"It was indeed. But your analogy with the zat'nik'tel shed more light on all the implications."  
"Oh customization, smart, Sam!" Jack said smugly.  
"What? What?" Daniel could only but not understand the references.  
"You see there is this thing with donut," Jack tried to explain not lacking of enthusiasm, "that makes a donut how it is, sweet and melt-y… consistent but lax… mainly it's sugar but there's also flour… and eggs you know. But when you dip it in coffee… the donut melts, you see and…"  
His tirade crawled under Daniel's skin, making him more and more unnerved. Kept in the expectative while getting more and more frustrated because it still didn't make sense, Daniel ended up cracking out.  
"Oh boy, please, stop Jack," Daniel spurted cutting him off.  
"It's insufferable… no more!" He pleaded.  
Jack seemed dejected. Sam just burst into laugh. And on his part, Teal'c shared a sympathetic look at Daniel.  
When she stopped laughing, Sam deigned to enlighten her poor friend.  
"I was introducing them to molecular and atomic coherence," she said concisely, "essentially to draw a bridge between chemistry and physics."  
Daniel was genuinely grateful.  
"I won't pretend I have a precise idea of what you're talking about but I finally get the picture, thanks," Daniel said then.  
"You're sure you don't want me to explain, Danny?" Jack asked, insisting, his face was undemonstrative so nobody knew if he was serious in his proposition or just teasing Daniel mercilessly.  
"No please," Daniel retorted heedless of any subtlety, "Although it does almost make me want to join you."  
"They do understand, Daniel," Sam asserted then, "that doesn't really mean they are capable of explaining it to somebody else."  
"I can…" she in turn began to propose.  
"I said almost," Daniel interjected and declined, "no thank you!"  
Sam chuckled at his lack of eagerness.

Back on her plate, Sam made an effort but quickly gave up on her lunch and thus continued on playing with her food. The others were simply eating quietly their lunch.

"Samantha?" Teal'c exclaimed finally.  
The girl was lost in thoughts and was picking at an indescribable chunk of meat with her fork.  
"Samantha, will you finish your plate?" Teal'c went on.  
She was still in a daze oblivious.  
"Sam?" Teal'c called her with insistence.  
"Huh?" She finally startled.  
"Still playing with your food!" Jack scolded her out loud once he looked at her.  
"Oh!" Sam dropped her fork guiltily.  
"May I have your plate?" Teal'c met her gaze.  
"Okay!" She answered without a thought.  
The boy took her plate without even letting her back away.  
"Easy, T," Jack protested, "what is you're problem with food anyway?"  
Jack definitely wasn't happy with what had been going on and glared at Teal'c. Daniel on is part was calmly observing the scene and eating away.  
"I am a growing teenager," the boy defended himself, "It is commonly known that at my age, one consumes large quantity of nutriments."  
"For crying out loud, you're not starving," Jack rolled his eyes and shook his head negatively, "and Sam is growing up too, don't go stealing food from her very mouth, damn it!"  
"Next time, gosh Teal'c, just ask for a refill," Jack said.  
Teal'c expression was one of surprise but then he bowed his head in approval.  
However, Jack wasn't really angry with Teal'c and he turned his attention to the blond girl.  
"And you, Sam," he said firmly, "what with this need to feed everyone?"  
"Jack!" Sam tried to get him to listen to her.  
He was dead serious in his reprimand and wasn't to be stopped easily.  
"Really, these two are perfectly capable of taking care of themselves!" Jack continued.  
"Jack!" Sam repeated.  
"Jeeze, you're not their mother or something!" Jack stubbornly followed his line of speech.  
"Jack!" Sam said louder.  
"What?" Jack finally relented.  
"Want my piece of cake?" Sam held out her dessert to him.  
Jack was caught speechless (rapid switch of topic does that to him plus there is this certain innuendo that one can see… or not).  
"Huh.. Um… that's… that's…" He stammered.  
"Chocolate cake!" Sam added smugly.  
"You're… You're…" Jack stuttered (you have to be indulgent with him, he is really weak when it concerns cake).  
"If you don't, maybe Murray will," Sam commented in a passing-by manner.  
Jack's expression shadowed suddenly as he quickly grabbed the plate but averted her gaze. He mumbled something between his teeth and of course refused to thank her. Seeing his reaction, Daniel burst into laugh while Teal'c voraciously ate away without a care. Sam of course was really proud of her move and was grinning unabashedly.  
"Still you should eat up your salad," Jack threw a vicious glare in her direction and he stammered pathetically, "and… and your apple too, do you copy?"  
Sam giggled at his words which did not fail to infuriate him further.  
"That's an order!" Jack added firmly.  
This time, Sam did a mocking salute sitting at attention, her back ramrod against her chair.  
"Sir, yes sir!" She claimed snappishly.  
Jack's look gained even more ire as he directed it heavily at her. Sam quickly grew uncomfortable giving in to the pressure of his gaze. Decidedly, Jack had lost nothing of his commanding stance. So she turned her attention to her tray and started on her salad without being told twice.

x–x–x

Advanced Physics class was usually calm, and by that it meant it was silent. The students who added this credit to their course were of the brighter kind, and by that it meant that Advanced Physics class gathered what people and most particularly high school people called with no affection at all (except for a few individuals in even rarer occasions) – the geeks.

But who was as far as being a geek than one Jack O'Neill… or one Murray Ronson for that matter? So among the stereotype of a clumsy oft-four-eyed unathletic bunch of kids, the two of them wouldn't have failed to stand out. As a matter of fact, it was also rather apparent that one Sam Carter didn't exactly fit the mold either. Yet contrary to her two friends, here, she did talk the language. Truth was she breathed science in and out to the extent to having devoted her previous life to the Art of Science.

So in this precise moment of all, Jack O'Neill who was not in his most conciliatory mood didn't consider her as kin.

No, Jack was grumbling to his teeth as he was facing his notebook, the difficult problem given just ten minutes ago by the so detested teacher (teachers are rarely loved) lying inert before his eyes. The young boy glanced at his friend – his brother-in-arm, his kindred spirit, his companion always loyal but for once when he had been brainwashed and not himself and thus could not be taken responsible for his actions. Yes, Jack looked at Teal'c in hope of sharing a mutual distress and receiving some psychological support… To in the end find that Teal'c had – again – betrayed his trust and was thoroughly scribbling on his sheet of paper.

The class was scarce, not a lot of students felt brave enough to undertake that kind of mental torture. So when Jack surveyed the room, he was quick to notice that everybody was… scribbling away… except, it was of course presumed beforehand, for the eternal gossiping twins sat farther at his right, a title the two girls in question who looked the same – dyed, dressed the same – bimbo like and talked the same – whiny chick talk, earned in the two seconds after he met them. How did they manage to land in this class? Nobody knew but the most popular rumor talked about a 'mischecked' box in an administrative form and it needed to be stated that the two girls in question did horribly clash with the surrounding environment more than Jack and Teal'c would ever manage to. But it was also true that contrary to Jack's own deluded world, nothing about this class was stereotypical, certainly due to the proximity to the Air Force Academy in the region. When Jack look at his left, his immediate classmate, a tall rather muscular red-hair who Jack thought whose name was either Peter Fitzpatrick or Adam Scotti and whose name was really Scott Pauli (not so far off for Jack), threw him a frowning gaze at which Jack just shrugged.

In addition, not that Jack was awaiting any support from his other friend especially against such thing as his actual adversity but nonetheless the young boy could not stop from glancing at his brilliant albeit now juvenile astrophysicist. In fact as Jack found out, Sam wasn't writing. She wasn't even paying any attention to the class, the teacher or least of all the instructions written across the whiteboard.

Looking intently through the windows, Sam seemed to be somewhere else altogether. Her backpack was lying on the ground untouched and her hands were rested on the empty table unmoving. Jack began to wonder if it finally had been a good idea to drag her into this. She was sure to get immensely bored since, well, she already knew everything… and beyond. But in the other hand, as he reminded himself there was also one thing he knew, she did enjoy – explaining things.

Though Jack wasn't exactly wrong, he wasn't exactly accurate in his assumption either. Truth was that people who were both impassioned and gifted always longed for an interested ear. This was due to many reasons and it manifested itself as a desire to reach out and as a desire to share (which in the end is finally quite common, really, who does not have those desires?). For those people however something akin to an impassable wall separated them from the rest of the world. So whenever it was possible, they enjoyed making people, most especially dear people, understand and sense the spark, the fire their very special craft enlightened in them. One could be completely overt with it, sometimes to the risk of being plainly annoying (you know what I mean). But for some others – because of their upbringing, their personality or of their current background (you know what I mean) – it wasn't something put on display naturally and least of all forcefully. But enthusiasm and adoration were too sincere to be veiled and sometimes – often – they too also got carried on.

While Jack had always been aware of this particular fact – he couldn't have missed it with both Daniel and Sam at his side for so many years – he would never understand it, not really. What he couldn't comprehend however didn't stop him from feeling slightly guilty as he turned his attention on the problem at stake.  
He really wanted to express his good faith and his good will.  
'Don't panic!' He heard Sam's voice in his head. It was her young voice which was on one hand disconcerting and the other, perfectly natural. It had been frighteningly quick and easy to get used to the many changes the last weeks brought up.  
'Don't panic!' She had said to him as she was tutoring him.  
It was easy to say but hard to do. He attentively read the problem again.  
'Pass over the confusion!'  
He smiled as he recalled her saying it to him. He also realized what Sam had really meant. She had been saying him to stop and focus.  
'Look calmly at the variables, follow the instructions.'  
It wasn't an easy thing for him to concentrate on things like physics; it had been so long since he had to. Slowly, he was beginning to see it more clearly… It was beginning to take form and he sped his pace, rushing into the process. After some time spent on his reasoning, he started to get frustrated.  
'Don't jump to quick conclusions without clearing every one of your hypotheses.'  
That advice was rather general and wasn't meant only for him although it was always fitting. People often got it wrong because they were careless and quick to judge. And oh surprise, the problem was very tricky, he had been going on a wrong direction. He ruled out what he had been writing. Now where was he left?  
'Proceed with method. Use a draft, put down figures, draw out schematics, everything you need until it makes sense.'  
It was again a general advice that he thoroughly followed down. The new reasoning was slowly building up as he proceeded with more patience and more care.  
'See, you do know laws and theorems.'  
That had been one of her remarks meant to brush off any of his self-deprecating habits.  
Jack was scribbling rapidly on his notebook now. Sure it felt good to reach to a solution on his own. However he was certain Sam would offer him one of her trademark disguised-compliments.  
'You're not such a klutz.'  
They always were uncalled for and of course he would not want them to be different.  
He was so engrossed in the problem that at first he did not notice what was occurring a few feet away from him. Then when the teacher loudly brought attention to his blond friend, Jack raised his head.

Miss Carter," the teacher's calling was ignored again but most probably from what Jack could see, it had just not been heard.  
"Miss Carter," he repeated louder and firmer.

Professor Douglas MacPen was a tall man with sharp brown eyes and black hair neatly ordered on one side. While his class didn't require the use of a white lab coat, he prized himself to always wear one so to give to his appearance a semblance of formality he thought was lacking in the exercise of his work.  
MacPen was quite young and he considered himself experienced. Through his few years of teaching, he had managed to drag the reputation of being an uneasy teacher – which was rather accurate.  
To his defence, his first years of work hadn't been kind with him – difficult school, difficult classes and a large handful of difficult students. But at the roots of it stood an unquestionable difficulty to relate to his pupils and even more, to communicate with them. He wasn't stupid but an uncontrolled sense of paranoia that oppressed him constantly caused him to misinterpret situations and adopt wrong actions.  
Though not that he was wrong to feel threatened by Sam who was – at his ignorance and at the ignorance of every people she met but for a few – one of the most brilliant scientist of the times and sure one of the purest person one could encounter. But Douglas MacPen was prejudiced.  
From their first meeting, he took a disliking to her. Disliking that had grown quickly into resentment when the young girl appeared in the Science Club whose responsibility had unwelcomely befallen on him when the previous teacher took maternity leave. Nowadays, everything Samantha Carter did, Douglas took it personally – and – badly. But if anyone had asked him what exactly he did not like in this precise student, he wouldn't have been able to pinpoint something precise. And that revealed how in denial he truly was about his own character but Douglas' behaviour wasn't under the spotlight.

No, in this exact moment, all eyes were indeed directed to the young girl who seemed genuinely oblivious to the situation.

Once MacPen reached her location, he banged his palm violently on the girl's desk to raise her attention and liberate some of his steam. Yet Sam barely registered his gesture. With a few seconds lag and as in slow-motion, she finally turned her head toward the source of the shadow that was hovering over her. But to add to MacPen's frustration, she refrained from speaking.  
Sam didn't seem to know what was happening and was obviously waiting for the teacher to voice out his request. Jack thought that in any other circumstances, normal Sam Carter would have stood to attention and at least blurted out a questioning "Sir". But right now, she appeared numb, her mind incapable of sustaining attention and her body moving with effort.

In response MacPen tightened his jaws not at all pleased by the turn of events. Since he was quite scrawny, everyone could see the tension lining and twitching on his bony face.

"What insolence, Miss Carter, this is a class! Have a little respect for your fellow classmates. Students are presumed to listen and work not dream away," his voice rang harsh.

Jack rolled his eyes. Students should not chat in class either, he look at the consistent gossipers – oh surprise – they were currently gossiping… not very discretely either. The least you could say about Tania Schneider and Trish Abbott was that they were far from being discrete… in any circumstances, ever, Jack's mind slipped (notice that he does faultlessly remember the girls' names… rah men!). Anyway gossiping was more disturbing to the class than the rare students who unusually kept silent and dreamt away.

"Would you deign giving your time and your attention to this class?" MacPen didn't fail to add dryly.  
A look at Sam's face and Jack knew she was still in a daze. But there was no reason to worry, she was more than perfectly capable of handling any situation and in the worst case scenario she could perfectly fend for herself.  
"Where is your notebook or are you so superior to the common mortals that we are, that you can solve this problem off-hand?" MacPen smiled wryly at his remark, he knew it was a complex problem (which at the same time means that Jack isn't that dumb but who really doubts it anyway?).  
The whole class observed the scene with morbid fascination. Teal'c followed the general movement but took time to throw a curious glance at Jack. It wasn't like Sam to cause such ruckus, she was usually very devoted and careful both of the environment and the people surrounding her. Though, Jack restated in his mind that she could hardly be blamed for dreaming away in a class that was equivalent with kindergarten to her. MacPen on the other hand, despite of all his obvious or hidden flaws, was also in his right to reprimand her, after all he wasn't in the confidence.  
Jack sighed and shrugged to answer to Teal'c's silent inquiry. The best policy one could adopt was indeed "laissez-faire". The problem was that Sam still seemed in a stupor. From where Jack was sat, he couldn't see her face anymore which was obstructed by the teacher but from the position of her head, she was looking in direction of the whiteboard.  
A moment later, at the surprise of MacPen, she finally spoke her first word.  
"Yes," there was a lack of intent in her voice.  
It took Jack another moment to understand what she was referring to while MacPen's face grew redder, his jaws tighter and his whole body tenser.  
"Did you want me to solve the problem on the board?" Sam added above a whisper completely heedless to the on-going drama.  
Jack would bet that part of her mind was still trapped in this place that was everywhere else but not there with them. Teal'c once again threw him an inquisitive glance, which was beginning to innerve Jack as he was tired to be the one to refer to. In the present situation, Jack was as lost as the next person.

MacPen's gaunt shoulders sagged and his face closed, Jack could tell that he was about to decline. That would put a stop to the situation which was good. But MacPen delayed his answer and Sam – once more – turned her attention toward a spot far away behind the window glass. Truth was she looked strangely lost.  
Seeing that and to Jack's chagrin, MacPen immediately reassessed his decision. He now considered the girl's words as only bravado.  
"Miss Carter, I think the class is waiting," he said, his mouth twisting smugly deliberately cruel.  
That interrupted Sam's short lapse as she turned her head. When the teacher stepped back, clearing the way, she finally registered to stand up. Then she absently walked to the front.

Now that he could see her better, there was no doubt to Jack that she was like sleepwalking. In the many years the members of SG-1 knew each other, they had indeed experienced her in this particular state, thus at several occasions. Each time, it had involved her working restlessly, her stressing madly, her not sleeping restfully and her not eating properly. While generally, people couldn't function like this and most probably would crash and burn, Sam was unusually resilient and efficient. That had helped many times in the past as she would only permit herself to fall apart only while the danger was passed and buried, preferably in private and also preferably after receiving the go-ahead from at least one commanding officer.

Sam faced the whiteboard and paused; MacPen saw it as the first crack in the armor and rejoiced in her hesitation. That meant troubles by Jack's standards because a zombie-like Sam was far from a brainless Sam which promised upcoming clashes.  
The class quieted instantly as everyone realized that there was some sort of turning point. And the tension irrevocably rose.  
There was no doubt in Jack's and Teal'c's mind that her pause had nothing to do with any hesitation or lacking of skills. Most probably, she was still bewildered and was only trying to focus.  
Soon enough, she finally took the marker and got down to the task at hand.  
Usually when she had company and especially when she had a public, she would go slowly taking time to explain her progress more or less comprehensibly depending on whom she addressed to. But as her strange mood let it forebode, this time, she didn't – at all.  
Worse, she wrote at the fastest pace her two present teammates had ever seen her work. Though it was true they never watched her manipulate formulas before since it never was compulsory for them to stay when she did. Of course, they did observe her operate on machines, reactors, ships… from time to time; after all when she had to, they had nothing else to do but. Jack weirdly came to the conclusion that engineering slowed her down somehow. Was it resistance due to the air, limitations of her mortal body and by extension not a superhero coordination? That made him think about how she had behaved when they had had the armbands from hell. But at the time, he had been busy himself. Then it also passed his mind that the high-school exercise was more or less obvious for her like adding one to one made two (although in binary system it makes ten, just in passing…).  
Yet when Jack gazed at the whiteboard again, his eyes widened.

What she was writing made almost no sense to him except for the scarce numbers there and there.  
He examined around, the class was as confused as him. Teal'c, his dear friend, was frowning and he shared a questioning look with Jack – again. Truth was Teal'c had rapidly grasped the basics of physics to Sam's joy and to Jack's mixed feelings of satisfaction and worry. Jack didn't want him to become another geek in his team, that would have isolated Jack, wouldn't it? But of course, Jack's own feelings weren't really clear about it. The last few weeks had been pretty intense for the black teenager as Sam had spent lots of time tutoring him. It was to be expected that the ex-Jaffa would have been behind and he still was but somehow Jack trusted his friend's judgement more than he did his own. So in the end, it really meant that Sam was writing nonsense.  
Nonetheless her writing nonsense was fundamentally nonsensical itself. It would be more accurate to say that she forgot herself, which her previous actions had clearly indicated. Now it would be preferable if she would realize her lapse before something happened. As soon as Jack finished his line of thought, the 'something' fatefully happened.

MacPen's expression had entirely changed. From a smug smile which lasted a long time as he was sure she was swindling her way through, his face now was tight with anger.

While Douglas MacPen was highly competent on his job – he had even graduated with honor in his times – he was no way at the same level than Doctor Samantha Carter, multiple times PhD in diverse disciplines and for the last years involved on a secret military project linked to alien technology. Indeed, Sam Carter was in fact at the source of what could be called the next human revolution in the understanding of the universe.  
If anyone, only a certain Doctor Rodney MacKay – whose name, it was right, presented some resemblances with MacPen – would have understood what she was trying to do and where exactly she was heading with her demonstration – something pertaining to multi-dimensioned universe, time distortion and even an attempt to integrate variability brought out by alternate realities. All of this resulted in a rigmarole of complex formulas, long equations, funky functions and convoluted schematics, all of this accompanied with a language that looked alien to even an alien (Teal'c). To be straight to the point, it was just incomprehensible.  
Of course, one could wonder how it had happened in the first place since even if it was an advanced physics problem it was still a high school problem. Actually, it came from the junction of two phenomena. The first was rather obvious: Sam's inattention not to the problem itself but to her surroundings – she had no idea and didn't care one bit that she was in High School. The second was less visible but still noticeable: MacPen's himself lack of thoroughness – he worded the problem simply too vaguely, no mention of any frame of reference thus no restrictions which even if it was implied in high school level was not assumed by an engineer or a physicist.

While Jack and Teal'c shared the knowledge that Sam wasn't raving, Douglas MacPen surmised that it was all but a hoax and thus acted in consequence.

"Miss Carter!" his voice rang warningly.  
The young girl didn't stand to attention which even if it was consistent to her conduct since the beginning did not help to alleviate the teacher's outrage.  
MacPen made a few steps stomping his way to arrive at her level.  
"Miss Carter!" he reiterated loudly.  
This time, Sam registered but not quickly enough as MacPen yanked her back by her shoulder. Jack saw on her face that she was definitely confused at the teacher.  
"What is this?" the latter pointed at the board.  
She glanced at her work and again looked at him frowning.  
"What are you trying to do here?" he yelled at her.  
"What do you mean?" the girl stammered, "I'm solving the problem…"  
"Don't play this game with me," MacPen cut in.  
"Is it some sort of prank? Are you getting your fun?" MacPen shouted.  
Silence reigned in the class; even the obnoxious twins shut their mouth. Everyone was attentively looking at the scene that was playing before their very eyes.  
"How dare you disturb my class like this," MacPen sounded indignant.  
Sam's eyes began to widen, she turned her head towards the board looking for what had gone wrong. From Jack's perspective, she was looking in the wrong direction; she had still not realize she was not in a conference room or her lab but in a class in High School. Teal'c on his side was getting up ready to intervene.  
"I… I don't understand," she advanced hesitantly, her voice like a whisper, "there's nothing wrong…"  
"Cut the crap out, that," MacPen snapped with a gesture that included the whole board, "is sheer nonsense!"  
"You think it's funny, don't you? What insubordination!" He continued to hammer.  
"But," Sam attempted to explain herself.  
"I have never seen a mediocre student like you", MacPen said with a vengeance, "bluff her way with that kind of tripe!"  
Both Teal'c and Jack thought that he was going overboard with his last remark.  
"I knew you were but a bullhead," MacPen pursued without halt, "a trouble maker…"  
Somewhere during his ranting, Sam emerged from the daze.  
"I BEG YOUR PARDON," she all but bellowed.  
"Who do you think you are?" she added furious and slipped even deeper, "Who the heck do you think you are to even question my work?"  
MacPen startled at her disrespectful and surprising reaction but he was immediately submerged by a wave of rage. He advanced menacingly on her, effectively towering her.  
"Back off", Sam almost screeched, "what are you trying to do? Intimidate me?"  
"How dare you?" MacPen violently replied, "You heckle my class and dispute my authority…"  
"I did what?" Sam shouted back.  
Teal'c was up intending to interfere but not sure that a more moderate approach wouldn't be preferable so he waited.  
"Sam!" Jack ended up calling in turn.  
The young girl threw him a quick glance, her expression tense.  
"What the hell is wrong with you?" MacPen revived the shouting match ignoring the boy's intervention.  
Again, Sam snapped and in the same way MacPen had banged on her table, she did it palm flat on the board.  
"This is right," she asserted her statement.  
Though she hadn't use her fist which would have proved a too physical threat, Teal'c clearly felt the tension rummaging through his friend and he decided to act. He wasn't in his intention to defend the girl, he was conscious that if one needed to be defended it would be MacPen himself. All he wanted was to separate the two so that no violence would rise from one party or the other.  
Jack was immediately on his heels taking another path among the rows.  
"Carter!" Jack said in a commanding tone.  
At his surprise, Sam turned her anger and her burning eyes at him, which almost made Jack step back. But she kept quiet and stayed away from MacPen.  
The other students could see a shifting of powers; the balance was indeed out.  
"I will make you expelled for this, Miss Carter," MacPen was heedless, "No one challenge my authority, no one challenge me that way in my class!"  
Teal'c was now at their level and he began to gently push the menacing teacher back.  
"Professor MacPen, I strongly advise you to calm down," he suggested to the teacher.  
While MacPen was taller, Teal'c was sturdier and what he lacked in height he all but made it up in charisma and overall presence. On his side, Jack took the initiative to pull the fortunately quiet girl away gripping her arm. While she hadn't snapped at MacPen's threat, Sam jerked his hand off and glared furiously at Jack.  
"Carter, follow me!" Jack added firmly as he went out in the hall.  
Sam obeyed him, blatantly unwilling, but she did nonetheless.

The rest of the class was rather perplexed as why such a strong-willed girl would do that. It appeared like whereas she refused the precedence of a teacher, even one as uneasy as MacPen, she accepted it from someone like Jonathan O'Neill who for all of the students was a pretty inconsistent teenager.

None of the members of the class shared his other classes except for two, Scott Pauli, the quiet red-haired boy already mentioned and Clara Sterling, a really focused auburn-haired girl. The couple as they were often referred to because when you saw one, the other was never far away, was rather discrete in terms of school popularity and they – had – noticed the strange bound between the new students and Jack – as he liked to be called, – a boy that represented a enigma for them although he had been rapidly dismissed by the other students. Jack had dropped school not long before the beginning of the year to reappear at the same time as the three new students of which one was absent right now. The popular opinion was that Jack was inconsistent which only brought out the definite difficulty of the student body to grasp his character. And it was well known that who they didn't understand, they either persecuted or ignored. While Jack alone had been easily brushed away, the newly band of four, on the contrary, was beginning to attract more and more attention. Oh they were discrete, they didn't mingle and most of the time, keep to themselves. But they clearly had a 'Past', Scott and Clara who had noticed them from the first day had no doubt of that. In fact, anybody could see it from the scene that was happening.

Holding the door wide open, Jack waited for Sam. As she went out he closed knowingly the door behind them, putting a definite end to the heavy monitoring of their classmates.  
Sam didn't halt and just walked away. Seeing her escape, Jack rushed and once again made a move to catch her arm at what she reacted the same way. She yanked it away.  
"Carter!" Jack insisted not without some pleading in his voice.  
"Stop Carter me around!" She bit back..  
"Sam, please, calm down," Jack implored as he blocked her way with his arms, one on each side of her figure backing her to the wall.  
"He had no right to question my work!" Sam protested in a whisper, her head down.  
"There is no doubt in that, Sam, "Jack reassured her.  
"But you do realize where you are?" he could not but add.  
Sam continued to look down and didn't answer.  
"Is it because of the lab?" Jack asked then on a whim.  
"What?" Sam raised her head and met his eyes for the first time.  
"Are you upset because of the problems of the lab?" Jack hesitantly elaborated.  
"That's… That's ridiculous," Sam replied indignant.  
"I'm sorry, I just presumed," Jack apologized not entirely convinced but Sam was again averting her gaze to look at the ground.  
"Sam, look at me," he intimated and waited to meet her eyes again.  
"Do you want to talk about this?" Jack said once she eventually looked at him.

But it wasn't to be as Teal'c got out of the class carrying Sam's things and the intense gazing was broken.

"Do you feel in a better condition, Sam?" The black teenager asked, concern showing only through his words but concern conveyed as strongly.  
"I'm fine now, thanks!" She answered him calmly but it was apparent she was drained.  
"Sam?" Jack insisted softly.  
The girl threw him a long glance, one deep and meaningful, but nonetheless evasive at the end.  
After a moment, Teal'c intervened.  
"I am sorry to inform you that Professor MacPen refused your attending to the class. I was not able to alter his stance."  
"That explains your new job of caddie boy," Jack couldn't help himself from joking.  
"Whatever," Sam blurted with disinterest but then she saw Teal'c was dejected if only slightly.  
"It's not your fault, Teal'c, thank you," she added as she put her vest on and took her bag, discharging the other boy.  
"Anyway, I… I need to take a walk," she said.  
"Are you sure, Sam?" Jack asked.  
"I just want to be alone," Sam retorted before adding more gently, "you know…"  
Truth was they rarely talk, they were all uncomfortable when they had to. So most time than not, they gave up too easily.  
"If that is your desire," Teal'c ended up saying, "we should leave you."  
"More like you should leave us," Jack specified.  
The silence that followed was heavy.  
"Okay," Jack finally gave in, "but do everything I wouldn't, is that clear?"  
She didn't think of answering since she didn't know what to say and so she simply walked away unhurriedly.  
Once she disappeared in a turn of a corner, Teal'c was the first to speak.  
"You should have insisted further, O'Neill," the boy said impassively.  
"What the hell?" Jack protested.  
"She is concealing something, it is obvious," Teal'c added.  
"You were the first one rushing to accept her leaving alone," Jack defended himself.  
"It was expected from a friend. You are her leader," the other teen explained.  
"You're wrong, I am not her leader – not anymore," Jack advanced then, "but maybe you – are – right."  
Teal'c turned to look at Jack while the other was still watching the spot where Sam had disappeared.  
"Maybe I should have insisted further – as a friend," Jack finished.  
Teal'c blinked before looking away.  
"It may be, it may not be," Teal'c commented before adding, "Daniel would have insisted if he had been present."  
Jack chuckled then.  
"Where is Daniel when we need him, huh?"  
Then the two of them stayed in a pensive silence.

x–x–x

**(TBC)**

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

I've slightly changed my mind on my method of posting. After a long time observing how other authors publish their stories and how readers review them, I abandon the idea of posting a whole story once it is entirely finished. Although as I really structure my stories in a particular and intentional way, I can't really publish it in little bits either.

As a warning, I have no interest in telling what happened before SG-1 was "reunited". I enjoy exploring this all new dimension of them back in high school struggling with what they were, what they are and what they will be as a team and as individuals.  
About Sam… Ah Sam, Sam, Sam, yeah I really like her character for a bunch of reasons mainly involving blatant and foolish identification (&co)… But no it wasn't for that precise reason that I focus on her in a really round-about approach in this second story. Between every members of SG-1, she is the one the most prompt to break down first as she is the one who has the most to lose in that clone-de-aging ordeal.  
Finally the text still needs to be 'betaed' by someone other than myself.

Please feedbacks are welcome, which also include criticisms since I'm not American (cultural divergences) and since English is not my first language (grammar and stuff).

v-v-v-v-v-v

Thanks to Ellie 5192 for the "Um" tip, it does make a lot of sense .


	3. Year One story Two: Self Defense 2

**Title**: Self Defense  
**Series**: New Balance: Year One, Story Two Part Two (2 of ?)  
**Author**: queen  
**Category**: Gen, Humor, Casual, Angst, Hurt/Comfort  
**Pairings&Co**: Team (friendship)  
**Spoilers**: In the Line of Duty, Jolinar's Memories, Devil you Know, Desperate Measures, Entity, Fallen… etc  
**Season / Sequel**: Season 7 and previous story(s) of New Balance Series  
**Rating**: PG-13 – T  
**Content Warnings**: Language?  
**Summary**: Times goes on and not surprisingly a member of the team has trouble handling things.  
**Disclaimer**: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money whatsoever has exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The situations and original story are the property of the author. Not to be archived without permission of the author.

o–o

**NEW BALANCE:**

**SELF DEFENSE  
(PART II)**

_Even the most powerful human being has a limited sphere of strength._

_Draw him outside of that sphere and into your own,_

_And his strength will dissipate._

The Art of Peace, Morihei Ueshiba.

x–x–x

The middle of the night, the room was pitch-dark.  
Not even the negligible light of a digital alarm clock was there to be seen. If you tried hard enough you could maybe hear the almost inaudible sound of breathing, though most probably you wouldn't hear anything.

While the owner of the room was perfectly capable of moving around without making any noise, even in a room without any lighting, especially in his own room, he wasn't doing it right now. And thus, even as he was still professionally discrete (understand here as a thief, an assassin or a spy, pick whichever talks to you the most), he wasn't completely noiseless.

There was no rush in his gait, a feline moving with lightness and confidence. There was nothing clumsy in his progress, a predator made to see through the night ready for the kill. No, he seemed to be totally comfortable in the dark.

In fact, Murray Teal'c Ronson was wide awake and if asked he would have told that the complete darkness in his room was very intentional. He would also have frowned if being compared to a creature of the night, at first he certainly wouldn't have comprehended the metaphor and then he wouldn't have acknowledged it. It wasn't as much as he was fine in the dark that he simply needed it.

Although pitch-dark upset people more than not, it wasn't his purpose.

Somehow, with the loss of his symbiote and in consequence his incapacity to kel'no'reem, coupled with his moving from quarters situated more than ten levels underground to a common urban house, he had developed a thing for darkness as some other developed a thing for silence. After all, a lot of people have trouble sleeping with any kind of noise around even the ticking of a wrist-watch. And yes, it was indeed sleeping that constituted Teal'c's very trivial issue nowadays.

He would indeed regularly wake up once or twice a night, exactly as he was doing now.

At this moment, Teal'c felt like going downstairs to look at the content of the fridge. And since the idea had shown up in his mind, he couldn't depart from it. So he walked blindly to his door flawlessly familiar with his private surroundings.

He opened the door, shortly halted and let his eyes adjust to the bright light coming from the window in the hall. Then he continued calmly in direction of the stairs not minding to close his door behind him.  
He noticed nothing unusual on his way; the other occupied rooms of the floor were closed while the facilities were vacant. To be precise, there was no noise whatsoever and even if there were, it wouldn't be unusual that one of his friends were having nightmares. Sometimes when he was in one of his night errands, he would hear one of them moan and struggle.

But tonight. Tonight, everything was quiet.

He arrived at the top of the stairs and proceeded to climb down. The wood cracked under his bare feet.

The habit of walking around in the house bare-footed hadn't surprised his companions. Jack didn't care one way or another. Daniel sometimes did the same but he was always scolded by Samantha when he did so.  
The girl was unsurprisingly proper through and through. She had made a remark to Teal'c only once although it had not taken the form of a reprimand. She had simply asked him why he kept the habit. He hadn't been able to explain at once and he had said so. She had not mentioned it again. And he had taken time to think.

There were things he had never questioned, things that had been taught to him, sometimes, things that he was sure, had been programmed in him. He was one of a race of slaves, of creatures engineered to fill a particular task, to play a particular role. What was symptomatic of the Jaffa problem was indeed that as a race they had never begun even to stir from this imposed position – at least not since a far too close time ago and even then not at all on a widespread scale.

No. Jaffas were not stupid. Worse. They never questioned. Look at his very example. The spark had always been there. For long his master, Bra'tac, had nourished the embers. For long Teal'c had known the truth. For long.  
He took him almost a century to embrace the truth. One hundred years of procrastination, wasn't it telling? So he had come to Sam and had told her. Some things had to be rid off and some – not.

He had told her about his childhood and the feel of the lukewarm earth under his feet. He had told her about his and his mother long flight from Cronus and the feel of his sore feet on rough lands. He told her of the feel of the cool flagstones in the places they had sometimes resided, of the feel of the slippery pebbles on the bottom of the rivers they had bathed in, of the feel of the scalding sand in the deserts they had crossed.  
He was a solidly grounded person; he liked that and he had told her so. But mostly he had told her that he was grateful for his friends especially Sam herself. He was grateful that they had opened his eyes whereas others would never have questioned his way.

It was strange what the night and the quietness brought out to the surface of one's mind.

There was more lighting downstairs; the ground floor had many openings especially a large bay window, through which the stars and moon shed their cool light. Living in this house in the outside and moreover living together with his friends was something Teal'c appreciated immensely. The adventure itself was truly and totally challenging for him who despite of his familiarity with the Tau'ri and his teammates, was still an alien at heart.

His pupils now dilated, he could see the surroundings as if in daylight. Once again he noticed nothing unusual.  
He went straight to the kitchen. There he refrained from turning any light on. The kitchen was a bit darker but he could see just fine. Truth was Teal'c wasn't really fond of artificial lighting, he knew of its practicality and would use it to perform tasks without second thought, but for his own use, in the sanctuary of his room or here in the calm of the night, he preferred if not the light of celestial bodies then the one of candles and fires.

He opened the fridge which turned on the automatic light inside. Bathed in the frail light and after a quick survey, he helped himself with a glass of milk and shut the door. He then took an apple from the fruit basket. Noting its state of emptiness, he turned around, took the pen tied to the fridge and wrote on the notepad also fixed there. Just at the end of the list and in capital letters, he wrote 'FRUITS' without detailing to Mrs. Herm which variety, he didn't really mind. Then he finished his glass and put it in the dishwasher. He was back on his steps, biting in the apple when he suddenly stopped on his track.

He saw it – a form he couldn't distinguish clearly as he was momentarily dazzled by the light coming through the bay window. The long, thinned-out shadow it projected ended only a few feet from Teal'c's position.  
He stood there transfixed. He felt no threat. It was easy now to recognize who was sat in the corner of the bay window. She was looking through the glass at the outside presenting her right profile to him.  
The young girl was leaning against the glass, her knees against her chest and her arms around them. She was wearing an oversized sweatshirt, sweat pants, socks and slippers. She was oddly impassive, unmoving, lifeless probably the reason Teal'c's senses hadn't alerted him sooner.

Now that he knew she was there, he couldn't simply go away. Two courses of action presented to him at this point, talk to her or not talk to her. His nature dictated his choice as he sat down crossing his legs. He observed her. While she betrayed no movements except for the blinking of eyes, she did appear focused like hypnotized.  
Teal'c thought of his present initiative both as supportive and protective. It didn't come to his mind to wonder if she had noticed his presence and why she was there awake and alone in the still of the night. It was not in his nature and despite his good resolutions; he couldn't go against his nature. Asking, questioning, investigating, protesting, searching, thinking were not his strong points. That was why he needed his friends for. And Teal'c repaid them by the only way he knew and was good for, he repaid them by physically being there for them whenever they needed to, wanted to, asked to (even at the price of turning into a living furniture at times).

They stayed in silence for a long time, both in a state of mind close to meditation. The night advancing, Teal'c felt himself getting drowsy, his body clearly claiming its need to rest now that there was no symbiote inside of his stomach. While sitting like this had never bothered his kel'no'reem, his muscles were now protesting against such poor treatment. So the teenager moved to bring some relief to his sore limbs.

"Teal'c, it's fine, go back to bed," the girl a few yards away from him said in a calm voice. It confirmed to Teal'c that Sam had indeed noticed him.  
"Are you confident? I must tell you it is in no case a bother for me to stay," Teal'c responded in an equally calm and clear voice.

Sam for the first time of the night turned to look at him; she warmly offered a gentle smile. It was not her warmest or her brightest one but it still had this quality that made it 'her' smile, something that touched Teal'c in a way that only his three teammates could touch him. It was ultimately something that soothed his mind.

"I won't be long either," added the young girl whose traits were as familiar to him as her adult's ones.  
It was not in Teal'c's habits to mistrust his teammates' words or to argue their intentions.  
"If you say so," he rose up and walked away.

"Teal'c," Sam called him suddenly.  
He turned back to look at her.  
"Thanks," she said in a whisper.  
He bowed his head down.  
"You are most welcome."

Then Teal'c climbed the stairs calmly and quietly went into his room. There he lied on his bed, closed his eyes and rapidly dozed off with no further thinking.

x–x–x

Daniel shifted in his bed, it was soft, quite warm and he had no desire in the world to get up. Oh no. Why would he since he was in the best spot on the planet there, with no care, no strings, nothing to do except gently floating at the limits of consciousness (Jack will say in his place that it is sweet). He cradled his head in his very fluffy pillow which provided a safe haven from the intensifying light. Sighing contently, Daniel cuddled his mattress further and hugged his quilt tighter. He was in heaven.

After a moment of blissful peace, he shifted again, to find himself sliding just so slightly into a shallow hollow, his back then met a oh so soft and warm obstacle. Not yet in a right state of mind to notice anything wrong, he just let slip a moan of contentment almost purring. It was much more comfortable and cozier now. Thus he wiggled settling in deeper.

As a result, he didn't flinch when in response a warm breath caressed his neck; it was quite pleasant on the contrary. He welcomed it when the warmth slowly surrounded him to reach his chest. It felt perfect. When his breast was languorously rubbed, he just moaned in pleasure. And as the source of warmth descended slowly towards his groin, heat began to peak. Little by little, everything became – uneasy. The soft and gentle breath on his neck had morphed into breathlessly sounds that trickled his skin and his ear. Finally, another notch was reached when the warm pressure slipped under his shirt and he unconsciously realized that it was now skin against skin.

Breathing among other things became harder. Heated skin touched his bare stomach and went further down lifting the band of his breeches…

And then Daniel's mind snapped into focus; his body leapt in a rush out of the bed. Wide awake and furiously red, Daniel was clutching his quilt in a death grip careful to conceal his lower body from the figure in the bed.

There lying guiltlessly with a devious smile on her face was Samantha Carter, fully clothed and just slightly rumpled by the previous activity. Daniel having overcome his shock and his embarrassment was now throwing her a death glare at which of course the young girl just giggled.

"You're evil!" Daniel claimed like he never had in his life believed something stronger than that.

Sam chuckled and the glint of deviousness intensified in her eyes.  
Seeing that the imp was not to be shaken by anything least of all shame for her action, the boy averted his gaze repeating 'evil' unintelligibly and looking around his room. He quickly grabbed some clean clothes with one hand not releasing his grip on the quilt before he could replace it with something else.  
Behind him, Sam was laughing.

"But Daniel," the girl said, "you can't blame a girl for trying!"

Daniel didn't even deign to answer as he barge out of his room hiding his front with his change of clothes while the hysterical laugh of Sam was ringing madly in his ears.

"Evil!" he shouted out a last time.

In the hallway, he almost bumped into Teal'c but the other boy having good reflexes jumped out of his way. What Teal'c hadn't predicted though was for Daniel to grip his shirt.  
"Teal'c, you are the one in charge of waking me, do you understand?" Daniel all but ordered him.  
The black teen had no time to respond then Daniel was off of him stomping towards the bathroom.

Arriving at the bathroom, the boy pushed aside a just awaken Jack and slipped inside. Teal'c remained impassive at Jack's befuddled expression and continued his way downstairs. Sam then appeared in turn in the hallway grinning smugly.

"How do you do that?" Jack spurted out with some kind of awe, "I have never… ever… made him take tail and run away like that!"  
Sam looked mischievous.  
"Oh Jack, Jack, Jack! You don't really expect me to kiss and tell, do you?" Sam replied teasingly.  
Not knowing how to answer to that at this hour in the morning especially before his refreshing shower coupled with his standing in only breeches, Jack adopted not for the first time when being faced to Sam his trademarked dumb expression.  
"Huh?"  
Sam smiled warmly at him, this time loosing her smug. Jack was even more confused at her reaction and turned his attention to the clothes he was holding in his hand.  
"What am I to do now? Mister prissy there will monopolize the bathroom for oh at least twenty minutes in his best days," and Jack knew Daniel was not in his best mood this particular morning.

Looking at the door of the bathroom, the young boy sighed, now dejected.  
"You can shower in mine," Sam proposed.  
Jack turned his eyes to her not sure he heard her right.  
"If you want, you can use my bathroom," she reformulated.  
"Oh. That will be great," Jack finally blurted, "Thanks!"  
The thought of Sam's bathroom, the fragrance of her shower products surrounding him all day long was definitely appealing. Plus Sam was low on fancy girly scents so nobody would know. He stood there in a dreamy pose and failed to notice Sam climbing downstairs.

"Sam!" the boy finally called on a spur.  
She came back, her head appearing at the top of the stairs.  
"What did you make for breakfast?" Jack asked not sure that it was really what he had first intended to ask or say.  
But he smiled suggestively at his own question.  
"Oh. Waffles!" Sam answered responding to his smile by one of her own.  
"Sweet!" Jack said contently.  
Sam walked away and Jack stood immobile for a moment his smile growing wider. Then he disappeared into her room.

x–x–x

The school bus drove along at a medium pace in the dense traffic of the morning. The temperature was cold, steam and smoke were escaping out of the numerous vehicles around, but the weather was merciful enough that the sky was of a bright blue and the sun shining intensely through the glass window was coming to warm the little exposed skin of the children inside the bus.

Shades and lights running on their faces, the four teenagers were sat together on two rows at the front of the bus that way avoiding the usual racket of the back and maintaining some privacy for their on-going conversation.

"Have you decided which club you will join?" Daniel started.

Jack was sprawled, leg bent on the seat, arm on the backrest, back against the window, a perfect posture for both comfort and strategic overview. He was looking askance at Daniel who was sat at his side in a similar but more uncomfortable pose. The question had been implicitly addressed to both Jack and Teal'c. The latter was sat on the seat directly behind Jack not a hint of a slouch in his gait. Next to him, Sam was managing a perfect balance between relaxing and being proper.

"We have," Jack answered resolutely.  
"Have we?" Teal'c seemed surprised.  
"We have," Jack reiterated.  
"Have you?" Daniel joined in since apparently Teal'c didn't know and Teal'c was supposed to be included in the mentioned "we".  
"We… Oh for heaven's sake, stop disputing everything that comes out of my mouth?" Jack chided.  
"Are we?" Daniel replied not giving in (why will he anyway?).  
"You…" Jack began before stopping then mimicked a laugh, "Hahahah!"  
Both Teal'c and Sam looked at the brown-haired boy with a knowing expression on their face while Daniel grinned smugly.

"Why are you smiling like an idiot, Daniel?" Jack quarreled.  
The other boy gazed at him branding all along a slight smile.  
"Nothing," he ended up saying then added not with no sincerity, "just that if I had known it was all it takes to make you shut up, I would have done it long time ago."  
It was the turn of their two other friends to smile affectionately even if in the black boy's case it only appeared as a spark in his eyes.  
"Huh? Do what?" Jack played dumb (which he is a master at).  
"What?" Daniel joined him in his game.  
"Don't play innocent with me!" Jack exclaimed, his pace completely thrown out.  
"Am I?" Daniel pressed in.  
"Oh shut up!" Jack snapped.  
"So have we?" Teal'c stepped in innocently.  
"What the hell!" Jack cried out.  
At this point, Daniel was satisfied with himself.  
"It is picking-on-Jack day today and nobody told me!" Sam commented playfully, "That's mean, guys. I would have liked to share the fun."  
Sam who had quietened down for awhile joined the discussion, the usual banter amusing her. But the situation backed out on her.  
"Maybe it should be picking-on-Sam day today," Jack retorted, "Whatcha think, Sam?"  
She mentally recoiled on herself; that wasn't of good omen.  
"So Sam, what is there with you and anger management? Oh no would this be you with dreaming away or better you with food?" Jack attacked immediately.  
As she was trying to evade confrontation, Sam found herself averting Jack's eyes in a first time and averting everyone else in a second time (that is indeed a hard task especially when you don't want them to notice you are doing so).  
"What have you got for breakfast this morning? Anyone's seen her eating?" Jack continued in the same line unrelenting.  
Jack didn't show any sign of abandoning the bone he had his jaws on, which pushed Sam to extreme measure. Hopefully she had always been quick at retaliating.  
"So, Teal'c, which club?" Sam turned to the stolid teen.  
Daniel who had observed the previous exchange silently as he was used to do whenever the two of them conversed, for once, part in sympathy and part because well he liked to antagonize Jack and needed no reason to do as such, chose to put a term to Sam's agony.  
"Yes, Teal'c, which club?" Daniel joined in.  
Of course, Teal'c could be trusted to get his big two feet in the decoyed plate thus with the innocence of the new born child.  
"Which club have we decided to join, Jack O'Neill?" The big guy asked inquisitive.  
"Yes which club have you decided to join?" Sam this time glared at Jack not flinching.  
"Which club exactly?" Daniel added another layer.  
It was decidedly picking-on-Jack day today and Jack was definitely growing weary of it. Guilt also began to blossom for previously taking it out on Sam so he reigned on his frustration.  
"We genuinely want to know, Jack!" Daniel infused once again knowing he was winning the battle.  
"You do, don't you?" Jack smartly replied.  
"But if you don't want to tell," Sam cut in with fake acceptance, "we can survive without this element of information, can't we Daniel?"  
"I don't know about Teal'c", Daniel intervened, "but I can."  
The third party couldn't of course go in the same direction and they all knew it.  
"I speak for myself," Teal'c said and then evidently voiced, "and I would rather know which club, we, Jack and I will join."  
"Jack, you can't let Murray out of the loop," Daniel added, "For me and Sam, I understand but…"  
"Teal'c deserves to know what he and you decided," Sam followed with no subtlety, "since it concerns him, it is your duty to tell him."  
"Very, very funny," Jack retorted with no humor but already giving in, "would you let me tell him now!"  
"T," he made sure to address to only Teal'c, "Let's tryout basketball first, give it a chance."  
The other boy didn't say a word but from his expression, it appeared he wasn't satisfied with the decision.  
"If you still don't approve, we'll try baseball," Jack noticed his dejection and tried to amend somehow, "So do you want to mutiny like those two?"  
After taking a pause to balance what the other boy had said, Teal'c finally approved.  
"It does seem to be a fair decision, you have my consent."  
And the matter was decided between the two people who were directly involved, which didn't stop Daniel from commenting.  
"In a way it reassures me!" Daniel said.  
Everyone looked at Daniel for him to elaborate since Daniel's interventions often seemed to come out of the blue.  
"Why so?" Jack inquired.  
"For a moment there," Daniel didn't fail to explain, "I had this silly thought that you were going to join the Science Club!"  
Everyone look at him again now because not only they didn't follow his train of thoughts, this time, it sounded utterly weird as if Daniel had gone insane.  
"What gave you this crazy idea?" Jack blurted.  
"Among all the optional classes you could have taken," Daniel once again explained himself, "you decided on advanced physics so yeah, it had me worried!"  
"I do not understand your worrying," Teal'c was confused, "it seems that we have also chosen Spanish class… with you."  
Jack also seemed confused but Sam just smiled comprehension reaching her mind.  
"Spanish is always useful!" Daniel retorted matter-of-factly before adding, "But Jack and physics, that's not something usually… I don't know… thinkable."  
"I see your point Daniel," Sam nodded, "I had a similar reaction when they pressed me to take the class with them."  
"Of course, we need Sam to tutor us in physics," Jack took the first opportunity to diverge, "as we need Daniel to tutor us in Spanish… there is nothing to understand, it's the most logical action to take!"  
"Nothing surprising there," said Jack and sign that he wasn't as dull as he could seem at times, he added, "Plus I happen to love physics and I wanted to make Teal'c love it too…"  
"Cut out the act, Jack," Daniel stopped him, "as if I would believe that!"  
"That's just because…" Sam started to explain for Jack and accessorily for Teal'c.  
"Uh uh Sam, don't tell him," Jack prevented her from saying more, "that will teach him not to believe me!"  
"But you weren't telling the truth," Sam tried to protest.  
"Still!" Jack maintained stubbornly.  
"I did not know it was a secret matter," Teal'c stepped in, "lately I find myself confused in regards to what should be confidential or not."  
"Oh I don't think it is, Murray," Daniel replied, "it's just Jack being a jackass."  
If there was something Daniel absolutely hated, it was his not knowing something in conjunction with Jack's being stubborn. That's why in general Daniel and Jack together could quickly degenerate into juvenile fight.  
"Excuse me!" Jack vehemently exclaimed.  
"Easy boys!" Sam tried to cool things down.  
"He started it first!" Jack protested childishly.  
"No you did!" Daniel did not fail to retort whiningly.  
And once again, they did it: their trademarked and silly banter.  
"I didn't."  
"Did too."  
"Did not."  
"Did."  
"Not."  
"Yes."  
"No."  
"Boys stop!" Sam snapped.  
It was bad enough when they did it in adult bodies, but oddly the fact that they had de-aged made the situation that much more ridiculous.  
"Now, apologize to each other!" Sam had to assert.  
When Teal'c proceeded to low down his head, Sam reacted promptly.  
"Not you Teal'c!"  
Sam stifled an urge to roll her eyes. She felt strangely like the adult she was underneath her skin, which made her sighed.  
"Sorry," mumbled the two boys.  
"Thanks!" Sam said, conscious that they practically said it only for her sake.  
"Daniel," Jack finally put the real first brick in their truce, "Teal'c and I took this class because we intended to join the Air Force once High School is over. My physics is rusty and T will need that much."  
Daniel's impossibility to hold a grudge had already been mentioned and of course Daniel was quick to forget about the argument now that Jack had told him what he wanted to know.  
"But you and physics!" Daniel frowned, dubitative.  
"Don't be silly, Daniel," it was Sam's turn to pick up on Daniel being a snob, "there is a core curriculum for all officers in the Air Force and you should know that physics is – especially – mandatory for all pilots."  
Daniel was definitely surprised and a bit ashamed he had presumed wrong.  
"Jack has a basic science degree – at least," Sam continued, "I don't know in what he majored though."  
"Oh! That's surprising," Daniel was actually impressed.  
"Military Strategic Studies!" Jack intervened.  
"What?" Daniel blurted back.  
"It wasn't called like that in my time," Jack explained impassively, "but that's my major."  
"That is indeed convenient for a warrior," Teal'c approved of his background.  
"Yeah, Murray, that makes sense," Sam smiled at Jack before adding meaningfully, "A lot of sense!"  
"Yeah doesn't it?" Jack smirked smugly especially for her.  
"Yeah it does," she grinned back.  
"What?" Daniel quickly went from one to the other knowing there had been a private exchange neither he or Teal'c had been included in.  
"Murray, do you get that?" Daniel tried to get the support of Teal'c.  
"I do not know what it is you are talking about, Daniel," the latter didn't follow him up (that because he is in the shadow or that because he chooses to be remains a mystery), "What is there to get?"  
"The two of them?" Daniel insisted, "The smile, the private joke?"  
"There is nothing to get, Daniel," Jack replied.  
"Nothing at all!" Sam concurred.  
"Darn!" Daniel swore knowing that this time he had lost the battle.  
All in all, truth was Daniel against Jack was manageable, he against Jack and Teal'c possible, he against Sam or Teal'c unpredictable generally for the worse, but he against the three of them was in a word impossible like really completely totally perfectly never-to-happen-ever impossible. Daniel sighed.

Eventually the school bus made the final stop and the level of noise in the public vehicle suddenly increased around them. Then the band of four got up following their new morning routine of a school day.

x–x–x

It was a common knowledge shared by every people who met Daniel Jackson that he was very talented. That it being due to his naturally bright personality or his unstoppable bottomless flow of words, people could not fail to see it as they met him.

For a fact he could probably speak indefinitely, on any and every topics whatsoever from the one hundred and one ways of roasting coffee beans (one of his obsessions) to the last assumption in memetics (another one of his obsessions). The latter, it was right, pertained to his area of expertise but the modern theory in question was one he cherished most particularly these days. To understand such a predilection in Daniel, you had to know that memetics placed cultural practices – named for the occasion 'memes' – at the same level as genes, memetics being conceived in some parallel with genetics but applied here not to human species but to human civilization.

How many times his dear friends had heard him rant about how memes were transmitted by repetition or imitation with dozens of new examples in past civilizations? They had stopped counting especially since the change in their situation and the absence of actual action. The number had now become astronomical (and Sam, well-known theoretical astrophysicist, will approve the accuracy of the adjective here).

Actually Sam Carter, scientist at heart (whose acceptance for said scientific perspective is sky-rock high) would have admitted (but only under zay'tarc machine testimony) that she was beginning to grow weary of it. Even Murray Ronson, the paragon of patience and stoicism had shown signs of irritation when Daniel had cornered him waving a stack of papers in the air and sprouting scientific speech intertwined with soul-deep comments on the grounding or the accuracy of some statement or other… thus for almost half an hour. Maybe the more traumatic event happened when Jack O'Neill, confirmed scientist belittler, had seen Daniel marvel shouting little enthusiastic screams as he had heard someone discover a 'dead' meme. That wasn't what had caused him severe and chronic mental stress. No, that was achieved when Daniel had claimed in a fiery tone that it was as if he were seeing them – dead memes – being reborn. The scene had made Jack O'Neill cringe then jerk. Afterwards he had rushed out wanting to wash away this distressing picture from his mind, that with a series of the Simpsons episodes, a game at Zelda the Wind Maker or maybe just run away screaming and tearing his hair out like a complete mad hat.

So that Daniel was really gifted and scarily impassioned, his friends would not have dreamt to deny it.

And indeed Daniel was a truly multi-talented person.

He was first and foremost a famous archaeologist, or maybe more of an infamous one really – that with his lunatic (but exact) theory that pyramids were landing sites for alien spaceships. Nonetheless, he remained a known figure inside the archaeological community.

But before his archaeological feats, Daniel had been known as a quite brilliant anthropologist, a title he had always kept close to heart particularly in his years in the Stargate program.

Long ago, he had accompanied many missions all around the planet (Earth, just to be clear there), completing his skills but mostly refining the intuitions that would irremediably lead to the career disaster we are oh so well familiar with.

This passion that unmistakably obsessed him since his very childhood had truthfully been inspired by his beloved parents. Their death had had the only effect in stigmatizing it into him. But at the source of it resided a true love for communication that had logically translated into a love for languages. It had always brought him so much joy succeeding in communicating with other people; his squeals as a toddler were not different from his adult expressions of delight.

And then maybe because of his parents' profession or because it was just meant to be, it had slipped towards the languages of the dead as he had used to call them feeling somehow mystic in his child exultation (be sure that if he knew about that, Jack would indeed roll his eyes till it hurt). Daniel had fallen in love with dead languages at the significant age of seven, a meaningful number that Daniel in his mystic period had reveled into.

So yes, at the very beginning of things, Daniel was a linguist.

Linguistics is a relatively new science that started in Europe in the 18th century; of course it hadn't been called like that at first but something more obscure, Historical and Comparative Grammar. It had been developed in parallel with the advances in biology from which it had derived the vocabulary.

Thereby patterns, structures, rules had been more or less drawn out; bridges were built and all in all, language and languages became in itself a science… or to be precise it had become several sciences. For instance, one of the aims of linguistics was an endeavor to classify languages; another was to establish a History of languages. There was more to it than the technical aspects of phonetics or phonology for which Jack have given the intentionally non-shrinkable appellation of the how-every-words-can-sound-that-being-voiced-or-perceived versus the how-and-why-every-words-should-be-pronounced-and-should-be-worded. Each time that Daniel used one of the two words, Jack would cut him off and dubbed them with his patented appellation which at first had rejoiced Daniel seeing Jack had understood but rather quickly it had become just irritating to no end.

Altogether, the understanding of the process that was language itself was something that completely enthralled Daniel.

However to tell the truth, among the six thousand or so languages on the planet – 'living' languages divided in around twenty families – Daniel spoke the ridiculous number of twenty-three in not less than seven families (he has intentionally chosen his fetish number there). Not much comparatively speaking but in human scale, it was in fact – a lot.

Although who would have thought that Daniel Jackson – who spoke not exhaustively German, Russian, Spanish, Arabic, Mandarin – did not know French? That had been what he finally had to confess to Sam Carter when the two of them had had to choose an additional credit and had come to the agreement of another language class.

In spite of not having learnt it, French itself was not a problem for Daniel. And while he was glad playing tutor to Jack who already had good basics in Spanish and to Teal'c who had none except for a few phrases picked on restaurant menus and some others from dubious TV shows, it was a whole new experience for him to share the learning process with someone such as Sam.

His years of studies had been of the secluded kind and he had fully enjoyed them that way never regretting his bookworm tendencies and his solitary character. But learning something with Sam – someone he knew like another himself, someone he was close to and most of all someone who put herself entirely into a task just like himself – presented a definite appeal to Daniel.

And he had been right all along; it was everything he thought it would be. The two of them had hit it off like a house on fire, spending all their time exchanging small pieces of conversation mainly to work on their pronunciation but also to annoy Jack, an activity Daniel never turned down and in which Sam was just beginning to enjoy now that she finally could.

Other than that, Sam had had some problems figuring out the gender of common words. It had finally helped when Daniel had made the observation that gender tends to be preserved from Latin to French. Sam had immediately jumped to the deduction that in most cases, she could refer to Spanish which she already fluently spoke, Spanish being also derived from Latin.

Now in a more general scale, it could be said that Colorado Springs High had the invaluable fortune to profit from the charming accent of a French teacher to teach French class, one Mademoiselle Constance Martin whose name was regularly butchered by the very mouth of her own students.

At the young age of twenty-five, of a moderate height and allure, with long brown hair tied in a ponytail and soft black eyes, Constance Martin was the picture of her very first name, she made constancy a way of life.

For as long as they knew her, Daniel and Sam had always seen her being of moderate mood, always tempered, always patient, always proper. She was such an extreme case that she really made them feel uncomfortable. In fact, this combination of fresh youth and wise despondency was truly upsetting to everyone, students most of all. Hopefully her teaching demanded quite a high output otherwise her class would have repelled the perky twin geeks – as Jack like to call them.

Now it had to be said that Mademoiselle Martin was downright perfectly and totally indifferent to any and every interference, their being perturbing her class or not, their coming from her students or from the outside.  
One morning as the fire alarm had rung, she had simply said to them that its being a drill she would continue her lesson but that the students were free to leave if they wanted. She must have been reproved for her behavior but had never let it alter her attitude. So it had remained a universe constant; Mademoiselle Martin did her lesson from A to Z regardless of the world. It was in fact the subject of on-going jokes among the student body that she would keep on her lesson even if she was agonizing or that one of them committed suicide in her class. Teenagers liked to be melodramatic that way. But oddly enough, her students listened to her and while French was not among their favorite classes, it was no way one of their detested ones. And one way or another, Mademoiselle Martin didn't care.

That was why in this precise moment, Daniel's eyes had been resting on Sam's figure, vouched on her table, with what it seemed no care in the world and completely fast – asleep.

Of course Daniel was not known for his brilliant insight skills – he was very observant and his compassion made him see through people easily but these precious qualities were counterbalanced by a large propensity to be totally absorbed in successive tasks thus at the exclusion of the surrounding universe, not unlike Constance Martin for that matter. However Daniel had not failed to perceive the off feeling that his friend had emanated lately. Her late state of exhaustion had particularly not gone unnoticed, that even without Jack's shining but scarce remarks. So when he had seen her doze off, he hadn't tried to wake her up.

Now, it should be mentioned that Daniel wasn't in the confidence about her last outburst in physics class. How he had managed to pass through the gossips concerning the dire event at the school for an entire week, it remained a mystery but why none of his teammates had confided in him was – not.  
Their silence didn't imply that they didn't worry or think about it… each one in their little corner of the universe but they were private people and even Daniel knew not to trespass those invisible boundaries.

As said, they weren't used to talk about personal matters, none of them. They weren't comfortable with it and they gave up too easily. But all in all was it the worse course of action? Only time would tell.

Yet Daniel was about to doubt the foundations of their silent but shared consensus.

It wasn't much at first, some stirring, not even noticeable enough to produce any sound. Daniel was only witness to his friend's restless sleep because sat just at her left, he was attentively watching her. But he was also paying attention to the lesson not that it would be much of a problem if he didn't but he wanted to take enough notes so that Sam's little but necessary nap wouldn't be detrimental to her learning. So for the next ten minutes, he was alternating between listening to the teacher and throwing cautious glances at his friend.

Today's lesson was about pronouns and verbs.

"French pronouns follow similar pattern to English ones," Martin said and continued while writing on the board in some semblance of a chart, "they are _je, tu, il, elle, on, nous, vous, ils, elles_."  
"However, _tu_ and _vous_ are equivalent to English _you_. Whereas _tu_ is only used in singular, _vous_ is used in plural and in formal situation… in sign of deference for instance."  
"When you meet an older person you will say '_Comment-allez vous, Madame?_'. When you address to your superior, you will use _vous_. Mostly when you first meet someone, you use _vous_. It is not reserved to adults, I know a lot of my teachers back when I was in your shoes used _vous_ when they addressed to me. But between friends or among young people such as yourselves, _tu_, it is indeed."

Maybe the moment when the events really went downhill was when Sam's sleep worsened and she began to distinctively moan. It wasn't loud enough to be heard two rows apart but it made Daniel lose his focus on the lesson.

At that moment, Daniel hesitated, he was one who always balanced his actions, and faced to this situation he was uncertain. But he stuck to the general consensus, hoped that nothing went wrong and did nothing. Of course, there was definitely a lack of options presented to him and he was sincerely having her well-being in his mind when he kept on letting her sleep.

In the background, the lesson went on.

"We saw that in French, every noun has a gender and you can, here, notice the lack of neutral pronoun. You have first to understand that _on_ isn't exactly a neutral pronoun; it is similar to _nous_ and is used to talk in general. So for every noun, you will have to know which one of the female or male pronoun to use correctly that being in singular or in plural. That means that, yes, _mes pauvres enfants_, you can't escape from learning endless lists of vocabulary."

Daniel wasn't really paying attention anymore and only vaguely registered what was being said.

Nonetheless at hearing Sam's moaning in her troubled slumber, Daniel could have reacted differently and his behaving the way he did had sealed her fate for the upcoming future.

What Daniel had not expected was for someone to put a stick in his well-geared plan.

Indeed Sam was getting louder emitting at intervals stifled squeaks like a frightened animal; moreover, stirs had shifted into restrained struggles. She was beginning to seriously make herself noticed to the class. That wouldn't be a problem in itself as it should be reminded that Constance Martin was quite lenient with her students. But it didn't prevent the situation to go from bad to worse.

Unnoticed by Daniel and for a fact behind his very back, Sam's immediate neighbor had decided to take matters in her not so capable hand. Patricia Midler didn't think badly when she began to poke the back of her classmate. She just wanted her to wake up. But when the latter didn't react, she just went poking harder. Still the other girl wasn't reacting except for a slight shift in her position. Now, Patricia could have stopped there or chose another way to remedy to the situation. But being human and on the broad side of selfish selflessness, she got frustrated and like a spoiled brat hitting on their toy when it was recalcitrant, Patricia poked the sleeping figure deep and strong with her metallic ruler. About the events that would follow, Patricia Midler, at no time, thought it was her fault, too busy she was being shocked and scared. It was possible that her young age prevented her from feeling compassion for another soul but truthfully a discussion on Patricia's character and possible fate didn't bear any interest.

On his side, Daniel had only come aware to the situation when Sam went trashing her table and her chair. She seemed demented and in a way, she was, as she had lost touch with reality.

Now it was a strange thing to see that at this moment most of the attention turned not to the disturbing individual but really to the teacher. Indubitably one question weighted in the mind of the students and it was really how Mademoiselle Martin would react. For a moment, time seemed to freeze and Martin's movements came to a halt, her hand raised above her head, marker at millimeters of the board. Then without changing her overall posture, Martin turned slightly her body, then her head. At seeing her, the students held their breath not sure what they were expecting and because of it, there was some sort of excitation and rushed feelings hovering in the air.

Daniel was also holding his breath but for different reasons, a million of thoughts passed in his mind. The first command to his limbs was to get up and so he stood pushing violently his chair, which fell with a clatter on the floor. He was hardly the only one standing up. Around Sam, class members had backed away. The overall result was a massive racket. Already many obstacles separated Daniel from Sam; fallen furniture and surprised teenagers were in his way.

At that point, it was already a shocking turn of event, even traumatizing for the guy who missed the flying chair by an inch. But from worse it became – horribly bad when suddenly cries filled the air.

"Kou tse'ek ke so'ov setiaf?" Sam shrieked, a nervous hand resting on the opposite hip, her arm protecting her stomach as if in pain.

Her words were incomprehensible for all but Daniel who recognized the Goa'uld resonance and immediately understood her saying. She was trembling, her eyes were haunted and she demanded to know what they were doing to her.

"Kou tse'ek ke so'ov zeva'm tiaf?" Her voice pierced through the class racket.

Wary of the people surrounding her, she was backing away towards the nearest wall, pushing furniture out of her way. Daniel moved in turn in an attempt to reach her. Her scared attitude had now shifted into an aggressive stance obviously in order to defend herself against them.

"O ej'ksis, nob gaas kou zeva so'ov ed'iom?" She yelled in an outburst.

The atmosphere changed with her cry. Before, the class was still split, one part feeling fully concerned by the incident and the other thinking it was some sort of eccentricity, odd but somehow funny. It was after all, Mademoiselle Martin's class where things were renowned to turn oddly, rumors told about fanciful stories of daring students trying to disturb her lesson. Now, Martin's being caught speechless and motionless was not funny anymore because even if they didn't understand the meaning of Sam's words, they heard the despair in her voice.

A quick glance at Martin and Daniel knew she would not take control over the situation. Most of the students came to the same conclusion. So the ones closest to Sam, well-intentioned as they were, tried to approach and reassure her.

"Zeshpa'c ake!" She cried in their direction but nobody understood her words except Daniel who didn't knew how to behave.

One boy grabbed her arm, she struggled against him but another restrained her.

"Zela so'ov ne!" She screamed.

"Zesht'iom! U ej'eruj ke so'ov zeal ela retegar!" She growled in a low barely controlled voice, heavy with menace.

Daniel, fraying his way, was now at their level and he right away tried to push them off of her.

"Step back!" He yelled at his classmates.

But the boys, feeling confident in their superior strength, were not to abandon their maneuver not now that she had ceased her struggling.

"She's gonna hurt you! For God's sake, let off!" Daniel told them knowing that she wasn't to give up that easily not when she had just threatened them with retaliation.

Daniel seeing their being stubborn desperately turned his head around to finally look at the teacher.

Constance Martin had the reputation of being moderate and constant in every thing; that made her indifferent and unconcerned but truth was those unsettling qualities had always served her well. And the present situation was not different; she hadn't lost her footing contrary to the perceptions of the students. She had just chose to observe and her observing hardly needed from her either to speak or to act (If that would mean something to you, her personality is not far different from that of Teal'c). Seeing how the events turned out, she found no reason for intervening. At first she didn't understand a word the girl said and then she was of a same stature so taking Sam physically aside was a no-go. Eventually since she had no idea what to do, Martin had refused to pretend she did or to play a role for which she wasn't suited.

However when Daniel voiced his warning, she found herself trusting his words. She had noticed that the two friends were inseparable.

"Boys, release her and do as he said!" She said in a calm voice.

But already Sam had made her move; she slipped down as soon as she felt the grip loosened up on her. With a quick sweep, she kicked the first boy's knees in the back and easily dragged him down when he lost his balance. She as quickly restrained the other with a decoy movement, twisting his arm in his back.

She now held him before her as a shield.  
"Egub'te ti ej'essac'te ela sarb'ac!" She said to him.  
Daniel protested at once.  
"Don't do that Sam!" He told her, "Please, let him go!"  
"Zeshpa'c ake!" She screamed to him in response as he advanced on her.  
Daniel held his hands above his head and stepped back to appease her but she became less and less coherent. She was alternatively shivering and jerking, a sheen of sweat on her ashen skin.  
"Li tiaf issa duash, noc tiarit nu ru'of! Issa duash, ej'luk! Noc tiarit ke ej'ksis ne Netu!" Sam mumbled talking to herself.  
Daniel frowned at her mention of Netu.  
"Someone open the windows, she is hot!" Daniel told to no one in particular but students went to open them.  
"Akou'rup li tiaf issa nuo'k? Kama des, kou zeva'm so'ov tiaf?" Sam raved.  
"Nobody wants to hurt you, Sam. Nothing was done to you… you just need to lie down!" Daniel reassured her.  
She hardened her grip on the boy and he winced. She wasn't listening; she was lost in her delusion.  
"Ej'tid'ia so'ov, Jolinar enod'a assa'ev rup revas'ke'm. ek'tiate nu xiou tienso'c. So'ov zerevut kie'ak. Conrad, ak tiers kie'ak'a!" She rambled aside.  
Daniel's mind was in turmoil. First, Sam never spoke in Goa'uld. With the mention of Netu, he had concluded that it was a resurgence of Jolinar's past. But now everything was mixed up with the mention of Conrad.  
For a moment, he had hesitated thinking that he was maybe talking to Jolinar, some remains of her identity at least, but if her last words confirmed one thing it was that it was ultimately Sam before him currently breaking apart.  
"Kou tse'ek ike eshap'se? Kou tse'ek ke so'ov setiaf?" She was repetitive in her plea and her control was slipping as distress invaded her voice.  
"So'ov zela'm ruk'te!" She concluded, there was ineluctability and some twisted acceptance in her even voice.  
At her words, Daniel's expression darkened further, remembering her previous ordeal when she had been abducted and experimented on. They had arrived just before the scientists were going to kill her.  
"Sam, you're safe now, we saved you. The bad guys are gone, remember, the colonel stopped them, please remember!" He was still prudent with his wording since they were in public.  
"Kaa, zesht'ak!" She jerked back and violently pushed away the boy she had a hold on as if she couldn't stand his very touch.

At this moment, she seemed utterly lost rubbing furiously at her eyes. She raised her arms before her in a defensive posture but she was trembling all over. Soon, she simply recoiled on herself sliding along the wall to the floor. She sat there, her head against her knees, her arms protecting her head.

"Zad'iom! Daniel! Teal'c! Colonel! Issa li so'ov tial ke kulke nu eniev! Issa li so'ov tial!" Her voice was barely above a whisper.  
Daniel knelt beside her at a safe distance. The rest of the world had faded away except for the two of them.  
"Sam, I'm here, Sam!"  
She didn't heed his words; she didn't seem to hear him at all. She began to rock back and forth.  
"Kou'rup tya li kie'ak issi?" her voice was muffled.  
"Sam, you're safe, here, everything's fine!"  
"Li'a kie'ak… kie'ak… kie'ak… kie'ak'a utu."  
"You're alive, Sam, safe," Daniel said suspecting now that something sounded awfully off.  
"I don't understand, what are you saying 'there's nothing'?" He added, "We arrived on time, you're not dead, you're safe!"  
"Kie'ak… kie'ak… epire ruk'ta'ke… ej'iame kousep ruk'tek… siam... siam ej'ia repu!"  
"Sam, what are you saying?" Daniel insisted.  
"Kie'ak… Li'a kie'ak… kie'ak… siam… siam taa'rup," She repeated like a mantra.  
"Ej'ksis illa! Ej'ksis illa, ej'ksis illa, ej'ksis illa," she continued on in a desperately voiceless tone, "zessa rup ne redere nosiar'al!"  
"You are here?" Daniel translated her words,"Oh my God, of course, you're here!"  
Understanding lightened his expression. She was trapped inside another memory, this time it was when her mind had been transferred into the computer frame.  
"Sam!" Daniel shouted at her loudly so she could hear him.  
He grasped her shoulder when she didn't react.  
"Sam, do you hear me, it's Daniel!" He began to shake her.  
On an impulse, he finally yelled.  
"KREE!"  
And she did twitch, at Daniel's relief.  
"Kree! Look at me Sam!" Her eyes finally seemed to focus on his face.  
"It's Daniel, I can see you, I hear you… I know you are here!"  
"Daniel? Kaa, enuej, pu'ab enuej, xuep'te'ak e'tek Daniel!" She argued askance.  
"Sam, look at me, I am still me. I'm Daniel," Daniel was extremely careful with his words and felt immensely powerless because of his limitations, "I am sure you can see it! Hey, Sam, it's me!"  
He wanted her to realize that albeit he had de-aged, he was still him but he didn't know how to do that.  
But then, she raised her hand and tentatively touched his face.  
"Daniel, tse'ke'te?" She hesitantly asked.  
"It's really me!" Daniel said softly, raising his own hand to take hers.  
And then her control crumbled apart and the girl threw herself in his arms, tightening her embrace as she began to sob.  
"Daniel… Daniel… Daniel!" She repeated.  
"I was so lost…" her voice was muffled in Daniel's shoulder.

Soon, her sobs subsided whereas her hold on Daniel tightened; she was hanging on him like he was a lifebuoy and she was about to drown. And Daniel wasn't passive and responded in kind glad to bring her comfort. Their communion would have lasted longer if not for the fact they were hardly given any privacy by the many people presently standing around them.

"Hum," someone finally intervened.  
It was actually Martin herself, interrupting them.  
"It's very touching," she said louder, "but Monsieur Jackson, would you have the amiability to take Mademoiselle Carter to the infirmary, please, so I would continue my lesson as planned."  
Her face was the epitome of gravity as if what had happened were nothing to be concerned for, nothing of importance comparing to her lesson.

It was another strange thing to see that now after such an ordeal and inside a public place such as a class full of emotional teenagers, the words of one person would loosen up the tense atmosphere. Some of the more distant observers, in space and in mind, even stifled a laugh at seeing this so typical reaction from their teacher.  
If there were any constant in the universe; it was that Constance Martin intended to do her lesson from A to Z regardless of the rest of the world.

And Martin's words had the other effect of affecting Sam herself as the girl looked over Daniel's shoulder. A moment ago, it had been impossible to tell if she realized where she was and whom she was with. Now it was impossible to tell if she was surprised at her surroundings. She let slip absolutely nothing, her attentive eyes just observed the people watchfully. However, she released her grip on Daniel gradually. Soon enough they parted and slowly got up.

Once up Daniel threw a glance at the teacher and nodded but refrained from saying a word. He was not sure how he could explain himself or Sam and was relieved that nobody asked questions. Sam's hand closed around Daniel's and the two were soon on their way out. While she looked composed, her expression betraying no embarrassment, no confusion to be truthful no emotion at all, Sam was indisputably looking sickly pale and her gait had this tension that revealed exhaustion and stress. But what worried Daniel the most was that she was holding her stomach with her other arm.

"_Les enfants_," Martin used her usual patronizing phrase, "tidy up your mess so we can go back on business."  
And the teacher proceeded to ignore the two students getting out of the class and went back on what she was saying before the incident. Apparently the students felt the need for time to digest the event and thus complied with her directive without reluctance.

As soon as the door closed behind them, Sam dropped Daniel's hand and ran off, one hand on her stomach, the other coming to her mouth. Daniel wasn't surprised by her sudden rush, it was really meant to happen at some point or another. And either because words failed him or because it wasn't time to talk yet, he just ran after her.

Within a short time, Sam rushed into the nearest girl restroom on the way. Daniel on her heels didn't hesitate and followed her in. She staggered in one cabinet, put her hands on the toilet seat, leaned and expectedly threw up. Daniel went to gently hold her, an arm around her waist and a hand on her forehead. After some further long retching, she finally eased and quickly flushed the toilet. Daniel then led her to the sink where she washed up.

"I'm sorry," Sam said in a whisper without looking at him after she was done.  
Daniel, of course, saw in her words the opportunity to have a real chat but he decided to proceed with caution and not blatantly interrogate her.  
"I should be the one apologizing," he commented, "if a girl went in right now, you would hear some indignant cries all over the place."  
Sam frowned, not glad about his diversion.  
"But if you apologize for my seeing the entire content of your lunch, you don't need to," Daniel started before adding, "The amount being ridiculous, it was more disturbing to see you retching really."  
There was rebuke in his seemingly light speech and Sam didn't fail to notice it.  
Truth was Daniel wanted to know not only about what had happened in the class – which he saw rightfully as a symptom – but really the deeper rooted issues underneath everything that had gone wrong. The outburst being too recent to be discussed right now, Daniel chose to seriously investigate on another problem.  
Sam met his gaze; her eyes had the glint of the sick. She obviously was not in condition to argue with him.

She sighed.

"I don't have any eating disorder if that's what you worry about," Sam began defensively, "You can tell that to the Colonel too so he stops his…" with a twitch of the head she snorted, "oh whatever!"  
Daniel didn't know if she was frustrated or irritated, probably both, however he noticed her little slip.  
It had been weeks since she had called Jack by his old rank. And at this precise moment, Daniel understood how much effort Sam had put into this simple task. In comparison, Jack and Teal'c always slipped, covering it more or less successfully when they realized their mistake but altogether, they didn't pay it particular attention. Jack didn't really care and Teal'c while really embracing his new life didn't take it to his honor to hold onto it at every single instant. Only Sam felt she had to. Something told Daniel that it was another symptom of her late issues. It was wiser however right now to let her speak her mind rather than point out everything that was wrong with her.

"I… Gosh! Okay, how can I put it?" Sam stammered, "You know I love blue jell-o!"  
Daniel frowned but nodded.  
"In fact, I always had a thing for jell-o," she kept ranting, "it comes from my childhood."  
She had started to walk back and forth in the small space and was becoming slightly agitated.  
"Sam, what…" Daniel began as he caught her by her arm to stop her pacing.  
Daniel didn't want her to avoid the entire issue by leading him on.  
"Let me tell you the way I want it," she cut him off determined.  
"Okay, keep on," he relented, releasing his grip.  
At his surprise, she sat down on the ground, her back against the wall. She had one knee against her chest and was hugging at it; she obviously was trying to both comfort and restrain herself. Daniel followed her and sat in a similar position close to her but not quite in contact. To tell the truth, Daniel regretted not touching her, the small distance was uncomfortable for him. However, Sam didn't seem to mind.  
"What I've never told you is that I wasn't a very healthy kid," Sam confided throwing him a glance before looking at her hands currently resting on her knee.  
"It can't be possible," Daniel protested, "if that were right, you wouldn't be in a field-team in the Air Force!"  
"I didn't say I have a weak constitution," she retorted.  
"Sorry, please continue," Daniel apologized feeling perplexed.  
"I was an anguished kid since the very beginning," Sam added, "No it's not true, my parents told me I was a dreamt baby always smiling, very alert and bright. But as a toddler, I was always sick: weak stomach, reflux, vomit. I had trouble with all kind of food, to be precise, with food in general."  
She spared him an uncertain glance. He hadn't stopped watching her and met her eyes with intensity.  
"I spent long periods of time in hospitals and most often the only thing I could eat was jell-o," Sam pursued finally connecting the ideas together.  
"Who would have thought," Sam claimed in a weak humorous tone, "that instead of being disgusted by the thing for life, I would take a loving to it?"  
Daniel smiled kindly at her, genuinely softened by the reminding of one of her endearing trait.  
"Doesn't surprise me one bit," Daniel commented but then he asked, "Sam, what was the cause of… what did they diagnosed by the way?"  
"Oh stomach ulcer," Sam answered in a by-the-way manner.  
"What? So young?" Daniel blurted, "How could this be?"  
"I told you I was an anguished kid," Sam retorted, "that was it."  
"Don't kid me, **I** was an anguished kid, it's hardly a sufficient cause for an ulcer!"  
Daniel scowled at her.  
"Yeah, doctors shared your opinion," Sam didn't back away, "and for many years, they never found the appropriate treatment for it."  
The frowning subsided quickly to be replaced by interest.  
"But they finally did…" Daniel encouraged her.  
"Not exactly," Sam contradicted, "in fact it was my mum and I guess my dad."  
"Mum had to deal with me all the time and she was the best when it came to ease my anguish. Dad unsuspectedly introduced me to the way of the soldier. All that with my joining the Institute at nine put an end to it."  
She was looking at a spot in the distance and Daniel would have sworn that for a moment she was right back in the past.  
"You're talking in riddles there Sam," Daniel complained, "If I understand it right, you're telling me that you have now a stomach ulcer due to anguish and I guess stress. That it is somehow chronic which with insight explains number of your previous behaviors in the past. But you're absolutely unclear about why you have this sickness in the first place."  
His glare was piercing at her and when she turned to look at him, she felt compelled to tell him.  
"I was a gifted child," she took a pause before starting a long speech, "highly gifted one with crazy neurotic tendencies really, thus the extreme anguish. At age four and a half, I was converting everything in every measure unit that I could thought out, like twenty miles is thirty-five thousand two hundred yards is one hundred and five thousand six hundred feet is one million two hundred sixty seven thousand two hundred inches is three million two hundred eighteen thousand six hundred eighty eight centimeters."  
"I drove people crazy with it," she stated and looked straight at Daniel, "That wasn't all, I had this weird theory that, as the seconds, the minutes, the hours, the days, the years pass ineluctably, at some point we will run out of time."  
Daniel gazed at her nonplussed and she kept on.  
"So I refused to grow up. I demanded that the time stopped," she said, "I was terrified by what was to become of us when time will finally end."  
"Oh!" Daniel blurted beginning to understand her point.  
Sam took a deep breath and continued with her explanation.  
"The Institute helped a lot; I finally felt that I fitted in. And while I stayed in regular school like every kids of my age, I followed parallel courses in all the disciplines I wanted whichever the level. It's the reason why I have so many PhDs; they gave me the opportunity to obtain various degrees before I even went into the Air Force Academy."  
The name of the Institute was only a detail but it was curiously hanging out of reach in the back of Daniel's mind. He was sure she had told him about it in the past. He silently cursed his unreliable memory.  
"My father with his background provided discipline," Sam continued, "He was very demanding, more so with Mark – which explains their estrangement. I don't think Dad addressed his scolding to me but he always said 'Carters do that. Carters don't do that'. Since I was a Carter, I took it in stride."  
She barely took time to breath before speaking her next words.  
"But the most important element was Mum. Mum was balm to my heart and mind. Mostly when I fell into one of these anguishes; she would provide any and every means of information, she never told me I was being silly, she let me made up my mind. She was so… I don't know… wise maybe… warm definitely."  
Sam was gently smiling and so was Daniel, he couldn't help but be touched by the softness of her feelings.  
"You loved her very much."  
"She was the best in the world," Sam claimed, "Even now I keep her words closed to heart."  
"What have she told you for instance?" Daniel quietly inquired.  
Sam leaned her head on the side glancing furtively at Daniel and then gazing in the distance, she remained pensive for a moment.  
"I wanted to reach the stars for as long as I remember," she began, "and while I knew it was going to be difficult to fulfill my dream, I had great confidence."  
The two of them shared a smile.  
"I always was the smartest kid even adults around me couldn't compare. But arriving at the Institute, I was proved wrong."  
She took a short break and announced in a decisive manner.  
"There is always smarter than you and the realization shook me down. I thought I was special but there were some others more special than myself."  
She chuckled weakly looking at her hands.  
"It's silly, isn't it?"  
"No it's not," Daniel reassured her, "You wouldn't have succeeded in your career path if not for this strong competitive streak."  
She approved and her laughter was more sincere this time.  
"I got horribly depressed then and finally Mum talked to me," she continued her retelling.  
"I asked her if I was gifted at physics, she told me she didn't know but what she knew was that," Sam stopped abruptly careful about her wording.  
"Her exact words were: 'I don't know if you are gifted at physics but I know you have an infinite love for it, and, the capacity to work the hardest.'"  
Daniel's smile widened, his face an expression of delight.  
"She was great," he concurred.  
Sam's smile saddened slightly but remained bright.  
"Yes she was…"  
For the following minutes, both of them felt longing for the past and yearning for a future as radiant.

"Daniel," Sam eventually broke the silence, "I have pills for my stomach in my bag, would you go get them for me?"  
"Pills?" Daniel frowned.  
"Yes prescribed by Cartwright," Sam didn't elaborate further.  
Daniel was downright surprised; the last thing he had expected from her was to confide in their psychiatrist.  
"Don't look at me like that," Sam scolded him, "He is there for exactly the kind of trouble I'm going through."  
"No, no, it's good, it's good!" Daniel stuttered.  
He quickly got up, brushed his pants with a casual gesture.  
"I'd rather you wait for me there!" He said looking down at her.  
"Okay," Sam told him back.

And then he was out of the restroom. When he arrived at the door of the classroom, he promptly knocked and entered. The room was unscathed by the previous incident; all the tables and chair had been put back together and the students were calm. The teacher had stopped when Daniel went in the class; she now looked at him inquisitive.

With every eye directed at him, Daniel felt suddenly very shy.

"Excuse-me, I came to fetch our belongings," Daniel said hesitantly.

In a heavy silence, Daniel made his way to their respective places. He took their coats and bags, which had been neatly placed back where they were supposed to lay. As soon as he could, he rushed out of the class, glad to escape the monitoring.

Once outside, he realized that it was almost the end of their French class and that he should probably inform Jack and consequently Teal'c of their whereabouts. Halting, he put the bags on the floor still clutching the coats with one arm. He reached for his cell phone in his pocket and quickly typed the appropriate number. He waited to reach the voice mail.  
"Hi, Jack! Just to tell you that Sam and I are both fine," Daniel said, "but we are in the infirmary, so better meet us there!"  
Then he hung up and proceeded to tuck his cell back. But then he reassessed the situation. He typed another number and waited to hear the beep.  
"Hey, Teal'c! Tell Jack to check his messages!"  
Now eventually satisfied, Daniel continued his way to the restroom.

When he arrived at destination, he was surprised to find Sam talking out loud; he could indeed hear her through the door. What surprised him even more was that she wasn't exactly talking in English. Not knowing what to do, Daniel waited outside.

"Don't worry Nigo!"

"Wakarimashita, doko ni desu!" she said and paused.  
"De wa ikimasu," she asserted.  
"Arigato, Nigo… Arigato gozaimasu!" She fervently said.  
"De wa mata!"  
Daniel was quick to identify the language and was flabbergasted finding out that Sam could speak Japanese – some at least.

He knocked on the door and entered the room. Before him, Sam had just ended the conversation and was tucking away her cell phone. Of course, she had been on the phone and not talking to herself. And suddenly, Daniel wanted to know who she had been talking to, he wanted to know about how on earth she spoke Japanese at all; he realized that he also wanted to know about how she spoke Spanish and why she chose to learn French. It seemed that he had missed so much lately when Sam was concerned.

He met her eyes. She didn't seem startle by his arrival, she looked genuinely innocent. And as he opened his mouth to voice his many questions, Daniel suddenly felt like she was slipping far away. It made him feel upset. He reached out his hand but didn't complete his gesture. He didn't know her and the finality of this statement froze him on the spot. Now, he wasn't sure the problem was coming from her.  
Memories of Sam, memories of time spent with her crowded his mind. He had so wanted to get back to their previous relationship but something had been missing since his return. Here now, he wanted to be there for her, to give her what she had given him, to support her through a difficult ordeal. He had been glad to be the one she had confided in, the one who had hold her tight and reassure her with gentle words. He couldn't deny that it was pleasant to play the white knight in his shining armor coming to save her.  
But in the end, he realized that it was he who needed her the most. He had always been and always would be starving for touch. Sha're had given him everything, Sha're had offered him a family to belong, Sha're has given him a life to live, Sha're had touched him, Sha're had warmed him. Sha're was no more. But Jack, Teal'c and Sam were his world now. Jack had offered him another family, Teal'c had eased his conscience but Sam – Sam had touched and warmed him. He had always been starving for touch and always would be. And Sam had been the one to reach out at him freely, breeching through his defenses, touching him and knowing him. She was ultimately the one who had convinced him to come back just with a few simple words.

This damn distance weighed on him more than ever, a distance that he could never cross, a distance in space, in mind, in heart.

His train of thought didn't take a long time and he opened his mouth once again not sure about what he wanted to say anymore.

"Sam, are we okay?" Daniel finally asked weakly.

The young girl frowned gazing at him; his arm was slightly hanging in the air. She didn't hesitate and took his hand in hers.

"Daniel?" she asked confused.

"I… I missed you," Daniel blurted.

Sam smiled and at Daniel's relief, she crossed the distance that separated them and took him in her arms.

x–x–x

**(TBC)**

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

I realize I'm overdoing with Sam character… somehow. I have to admit it's difficult, I don't want her on a pedestal by making her even more perfect, stronger and smarter but I don't want to depreciate her either, adding flaws and problems. It is not my intention to be melodramatic. Introducing not one but three of her previous ordeals for instance weren't my best move or so I think. It's too much of a commonplace in fics. On the other hand, I wanted to show something important and this combination gives the wanted effects. I guess you'll see where I'm heading to with it.

I also realize that I go out of what is strictly canon with the characters. People who watch the show knows that it never gets very deep inside their mind and avoids emotional matters as long as possible. Writing is different; the media itself has other rules. Consequently I have to dig deeper into their mind and forge them in a satisfying but personal way thus the not exactly canon side.

For the content of the French lesson, I have no idea what is taught nowadays in American high school and most precisely **when** it is taught. Being French, what I wrote is no nonsense but I have to admit I just picked the subject randomly.

Once again the text still needs to be 'betaed' by someone other than myself.

Please feedbacks are welcome, which also include criticisms since I'm not American (cultural divergences) and since English is not my first language (grammar and stuff).

v-v-v-v-v

Thanks for the reviews (and thank you reviewers). I'm not really comfortable dealing with them, especially answering them but I do read them and I'm grateful for them nonetheless.


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